Surviving the Middle: Mental Health for Entrepreneurs Between Seed and Series A
In the startup world, the gap between seed funding and Series A is often described as “the valley of
In the startup world, the gap between seed funding and Series A is often described as “the valley of death.” It’s a phase marked by high expectations, limited resources, and relentless pressure to grow. But beyond the pitch decks and KPIs, a quieter crisis unfolds. Mental health for entrepreneurs takes a serious hit during this stretch.
This is the moment when reality sets in. The excitement of a fresh seed round wears off. There’s product to build, a team to lead, traction to prove, and no guarantee of survival. Many founders silently buckle under the weight of it all.
The Quiet Toll of Growth Expectations
At seed stage, investors bet on potential. At Series A, they expect performance. That shift can be psychologically jarring. Founders often go from cheerleaders to skeptics in the eyes of their backers. Weekly updates become interrogations. Burn rate becomes the enemy.
This pressure leads many entrepreneurs to work longer hours, skip breaks, and make personal sacrifices in the name of survival. Yet even as their calendars fill up, their emotional resilience empties out. Mental health for entrepreneurs becomes collateral damage.
A 2023 study from UC Berkeley found that 72% of startup founders report mental health challenges, with anxiety and depression topping the list. The “middle phase” is often the worst of it—too far in to quit, not far enough to feel secure.
Loneliness in Leadership
One of the most common but least discussed issues in this phase is isolation. Founders often can’t speak openly with investors about their doubts. They hesitate to burden their teams. Even co-founders can drift into silence under stress.
The result? A kind of emotional bottleneck. Decisions pile up. Self-doubt grows. And without a release valve, burnout is inevitable.
What makes mental health for entrepreneurs especially tricky is that many don’t realise they’re slipping until it’s too late. The same drive that fuels growth also masks distress.
Signs You’re at Risk (And Might Not Know It)
If you’re in the middle stretch and experiencing any of the following, take them seriously:
- You’re constantly exhausted, even after sleep
- You avoid checking emails or messages
- You can’t remember the last time you felt excited about your work
- You’re withdrawing from friends or family
- You feel like a fraud, even when things are going well
These are not signs of weakness. They’re signals. And in the same way you’d troubleshoot a failing product, you need to address what’s failing internally.
Tactical Ways to Support Mental Health for Entrepreneurs
Mental health doesn’t fix itself. But it can be managed. Here are some strategies that help founders stay grounded during this turbulent time:
1. Treat your calendar like a budget.
Block time for rest and reflection like you would a meeting with an investor. If you don’t protect it, it gets filled.
2. Set “enough” metrics.
Define what success looks like outside of growth. That could be time spent with family, sleep hours per night, or mental clarity. Growth is not your only KPI.
3. Normalize therapy and coaching.
Seeing a therapist or working with a founder coach isn’t just for tough times. It’s a smart way to stay sharp, steady, and focused when the pressure builds.
4. Build a peer circle.
Connect with other founders in the same stage. Confidential Slack groups, dinner circles, or mastermind calls can provide vital perspective and offer a much-needed reality check.
5. Limit decision fatigue.
Reduce the number of small decisions you make daily. Wear the same outfit. Eat the same breakfast. Save your mental bandwidth for what really matters.
Investor Expectations vs. Human Limits
One of the great ironies of startup life is that the same investors who praise “grit” often miss the signs of crumbling health. Founders may feel the need to perform optimism at all costs. But pretending everything is fine doesn’t make a company fundable. It makes it fragile.
It’s time to reframe the conversation. Resilience isn’t about grinding through stress. It’s about building systems that support sustained output without self-destruction.
The best founders don’t just survive the middle. They use it to build the emotional infrastructure required for long-term leadership.
Rewriting the Founder Playbook
As the mental health for entrepreneurs conversation grows louder, so does the need for more honest stories. We need more founders who admit when it’s hard. More VCs who prioritise founder health. More company cultures where exhaustion isn’t a badge of honour.
The startup journey doesn’t need to be miserable to be meaningful. Building something great should not mean destroying yourself in the process.
So if you’re in the middle, if you’ve raised your seed but the road ahead feels steep, pause for a moment. Breathe. Check in with yourself. The next round may depend less on what you build and more on whether you’re still standing when it arrives.
