Can you build a startup without sacrificing your mental health? Bonobos founder Andy Dunn thinks so
Bonobos founder Andy Dunn is back in the builder's seat, working on an in-person social media platform called Pie.
Bonobos founder Andy Dunn is back in the builder’s seat, working on an in-person social media platform called Pie. But the biggest lessons he learned from his $310 million Bonobos exit don’t have as much to do with entrepreneurship as they do with staying sane.
When Dunn was in college, he was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, but he didn’t get adequate treatment until 2016, when he was hospitalized during a manic episode for the second time.
“The manic state is just a disaster — that’s like being in psychosis, you know, messianic delusions. … You can’t accomplish anything in that state,” Dunn said onstage at TechCrunch Disrupt 2024. The incident was enough of a wakeup call that 16 years after his initial diagnosis, he finally took his condition seriously and started going to therapy, taking medication, and monitoring his sleep.
Dunn wrote a book called “Burn Rate: Launching a Startup and Losing My Mind,” documenting the parallel processes of building Bonobos and figuring out how to accept and then manage his bipolar disorder. But the lessons from the book are applicable for entrepreneurs beyond those with Dunn’s diagnosis.
“We all have mental health, right? It doesn’t take a diagnosis to suffer or struggle,” he said.
Still, entrepreneurs tend to report a higher incidence of mental health issues throughout their lives than the average person.
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