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Bonobos founder Andy Dunn is back in the builder ’s derriere , process on an in - person societal mass medium program called Pie . But the expectant lessons he learned from his$310 million Bonobos exitdon’t have as much to do with entrepreneurship as they do with staying sane .
When Dunn was in college , he was diagnosed with bipolar disorderliness , but he did n’t get adequate treatment until 2016 , when he was hospitalized during a frenzied episode for the second time .
“ The manic state is just a disaster — that ’s like being in psychosis , you know , messianic head game . … You ca n’t accomplish anything in that country , ” Dunn say onstage at TechCrunch Disrupt 2024 . The incident was enough of a wakeup call that 16 age after his initial diagnosis , he finally took his condition earnestly and started going to therapy , taking medication , and monitor his slumber .
Dunn wrote a ledger called “ Burn charge per unit : found a Startup and Losing My nous , ” document the parallel processes of building Bonobos and work out out how to accept and then manage his bipolar disorderliness . But the lessons from the record are applicable for entrepreneurs beyond those with Dunn ’s diagnosis .
“ We all have mental health , right ? It does n’t take a diagnosis to suffer or struggle , ” he suppose .
Still , entrepreneurs tend to describe ahigher incidenceof mental health issues throughout their lives than the average soul .
“ There ’s by all odds a correlation between neurodivergence and creativeness , ” he said . “ I do n’t know if entrepreneurship pull in people who are neurodivergent , or it makes them more neurodivergent , but there ’s certainly some kind of a virgin and sometimes unvirtuous cycle there . ”
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That interplay between mental illness and entrepreneurship is even more tangible for Dunn , who say that the state of hypomania — the high of bipolar disorder , as opposed to the oppress depressive period — could be contributing to running a startup .
“ Here are the DSM criteria for [ hypomania ] : speedy delivery , increased ideation , magniloquence , lessen need for sleep , power to be more creative … more or less the central casting traits of an enterpriser having a good day , ” he said . “ I was capable to benefit from that , but the price that I yield was ultimately too high . I was gloomy with self-destructive ideation for between two to three month a year , and then at long last , the full mania and psychosis came raging back , which was catastrophic . ”
But even in an surprisingly productive hypomanic state , Dunn does n’t think he was the greatest boss or confrere . He said that one of the side effects of hypomania is becoming irritable when the great unwashed disagree with you , which is essential to fly the coop a collaborative companionship . Now , running Pie , Dunn welcome this debate .
“ When we disagree , let ’s go , let ’s disagree even more , because we ’re drop dead to be able to make a better decision coming out of it , ” he said .
While discussions about mental wellness have become more mainstream , beginner still concern about the stigma of revealing a diagnosing to colleagues and investor . Dunn is an consultant to theFounder Mental Health Pledge , which require investors to advocate for the genial health of the father they invest in . But he ’s not naive that the stigma is still present — when founders demand for his advice about when to disclose a genial health concern to investors , he enounce to hold off six weeks until after the trade closes .
“ We raised $ 125 million at Bonobos — would you give $ 125 million to someone who can either be psychotic or catatonically gloomy ? ” Dunn said . “ But also , you should n’t do what I did and shroud it , because then , you know , when there is a crisis , it ’s a surprise . ”
Dunn ’s discussion of his experience with bipolar disorder does n’t seem to have ache his ability to fundraise , though — Pie just raised a$11.5 million Series A. As public as he is about the severity of bipolar upset , he ’s also open about how his regimen of therapy and medicinal drug have help him populate a stable life .
“ I handle bipolar as my Olympian regimen . For Simone Biles , it ’s how to navigate and win the gold , ” he aver . “ For me , the gold medallion is to die of something else , right ? Because the horrible thing about bipolar is the suicide pace . ”
Now , the next test for Dunn is to do the work it engage to make Pie a success without sacrificing his stableness .
“ Here ’s the challenge , ” Dunn say . “ We want to have good genial health , and we want our squad to have counterweight in mental wellness , and yet a 40 - minute workweek does n’t slue it . You ca n’t change the humankind with a bunch of the great unwashed work 40 hours a week . ”
One room Dunn has navigate this fine line is to be open with business candidate about what the work will implicate , as well as how he will stick out them with company benefits .
“ I have a new spiel I give when recruiting , which is , this is a 50- to 60 - hour - per - week job , and in regaining , you ’re going to get two awesome things . One , you ’re going to learn more and raise more and develop more . Two , you ’ve got fairness , ” he said .
Like any startup drawing card , Dunn desire his squad to work hard , but he conceive there ’s a way to do that without it backfiring . In describing his time at Pan paniscus in “ Burn charge per unit , ” Dunn pen , “ I came to a classic false ending of an immature inauguration founder : if the business is n’t turn , then we must not be shape severely enough . ”
There ’s no denying that father require to work hard — but taking aid of oneself is part of that voiceless study .
