While working on Qype, the most extensive local reviews website in Europe, I was under immense pressure: VCs were demanding, we had just our second child, and I was functioning above my limits. The chairman we brought in was fantastic, but he also could not help me to fend off the various demands from shareholders, employees, and family. In the end, I suffered a real burnout. The pressure I felt constantly was so high that I could not write anymore with a pen on paper.
That was more than a decade ago. Since then, I have evolved as a business person and human being. I learned to have better boards. I learned to look after myself. I had help from coaches and many mentors. But I also learned whom to avoid.
For nearly a decade now, I have consistently coached a few successful entrepreneurs. By the Summer of 2022, the feedback for my coaching sessions changed. From “super helpful” to “life-changing”.
Entrepreneurs would come to me to discuss a business pivot or scaling up. But as we engage on a journey to the deeply personal, to the emotional, to core beliefs, we create change. This journey is never easy, but the results are outstanding. Founders have improved their lives, their happiness level, and their organisations for the better.
This is where I currently see more impact than funding early-stage startups.
I want to be the person to turn to that I did not have when things were tough at Qype.
