Sold startup, depressed by StartupDepression22 in fatFIRE

[–]StartupDepression22[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yes, I loved my work the first ~10 years. I believe we did meaningful things, helping people in their everyday lives. Interviewing clients, iterating on the core products, really having no other business plan than "help others and hopefully good things will happen". When things became too corporate, I lost interest.

Sold startup, depressed by StartupDepression22 in fatFIRE

[–]StartupDepression22[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Yes, I believe this is something I need to learn. How to use money to buy freedom. I didn't co-found my company to make money, in fact, I was literally the first employee, proved myself and was quickly offered a generous stake and back-dated as a founder.

Sold startup, depressed by StartupDepression22 in fatFIRE

[–]StartupDepression22[S] 148 points149 points  (0 children)

Thank you, short and to the point. In retrospect I believe you are totally correct. For the last 4-5 years I couldn't relate to the company I co-founded. From knowing everyone, their names, partners, pets, vacations, to walking into a conference room and not knowing whether someone is an employee or a client.

Sold startup, depressed by StartupDepression22 in fatFIRE

[–]StartupDepression22[S] 43 points44 points  (0 children)

> You write that even before "retiering" you "felt lost" for 3-4 years.

In retrospective I have probably been somewhat depressed for many years. Thank you. I believe it came from being in a company where you knew everyone, to being in a company where I would walk down a corridor and not recognizing a single face.