Start Ups and Downs

“In tech circles, where founders are nearly hardwired to describe everything as awesome, promise every business is growing, and work until they drop, Colonna has empowered them to take on – and tend to – their own mental health issues. He does this by talking about himself. In the early aughts, Colonna was consumed by a deep depression that left him suicidal.” I’ve been investing in and working with Internet startups for a couple of decades, and I’ve never really bought into the notion that being a tech entrepreneur in a fast paced industry makes one more susceptible to depression or suicidality. The point is that we often forget a key factor about people in pressurized leadership roles: They’re human beings just like the rest of us. Jessi Hempel introduces us to a CEO-whisperer who is effective precisely because he understands this reality: This Man Makes Founders Cry.