Metrics are important, but so is making the tough, gut-wrenching decision to part ways with a key employee. Product strategy is important, but a fixation on the competition is counter-productive. A successful exit can set you up financially, but how do you avoid the fate of (statistically) the majority of founders who become sad and unmoored after an exit, rather than ecstatic over their newfound wealth and entering the next chapter of life?



We can manage products and even people, but managing our own minds can be hardest of all. Ironic, since biologically it ought to be the thing we can control most of all. Bad management of the mind results in poor strategic decisions, focussing on the wrong things, and unnecessary negative emotions and stress over what someone said on the Internet, what a competitor did, what an employee did, or how the company evolves away from its roots. Startups are difficult enough and risky enough as it is, even without this added burden.



Through personal stories and commiseration with your fellow entrepreneurs, you’ll face the truth, take solace in seeing you’re not alone, and overcome these challenges using a specific set of tools.