Article · 10 min read

Founders, VCs Open Up About Depression And Stress As Mental Health Enters Public Debate

Inc42 Staff · Inc42 Free Beginner India

The India-specific voice this question needs. Serial founder Rachit Gupta says it plainly about shutting his second startup: 'nearly broke, burnt out... a complete lack of self-confidence and self-worth. I took career failure very, very personally.' That is the exact confusion of 'the company failed' with 'I am a failure' spelled out by an Indian founder. Kunal Shah adds why it bites harder here: in a status-driven society, failure is read as a steep decline in status, which is precisely the pressure The Anywhere Founder has to consciously refuse.

  • Rachit Gupta names the trap directly: he took the shutdown 'very, very personally,' collapsing company failure into a loss of self-worth
  • In India the pain is amplified because failure is socially read as a status drop (Kunal Shah), so separating self from outcome takes deliberate effort
  • Founders going public with this is rare and it works: every honest account loosens the stigma and makes the next founder's reset easier
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It answers 3 questions

  1. I raised money and now I'm terrified of letting investors down. How do I handle the pressure of other people's money?
  2. How do I stop tying my entire self-worth to whether the startup succeeds?
  3. When do I need to grieve and reset before starting again, and how do I actually process a startup that failed?

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