For first-time Founders, this is unfamiliar territory, for serial Founders it never gets tiring as endorphins are constantly released at every stage of company development. With the great passion of self-belief in themselves and their idea, momentum is created and the journey begins. This may include over 100 pitches to many potential investors whilst still working a day job, but if and when they are lucky enough to receive funding, an immediate affirmation of themselves and the idea fuels growth, that once harnessed, allows the flow of both finance and talent into the startup and the hope always remains of becoming that much-prized unicorn in the back of their mind. This is just the beginning.

The transactional journey of a Founder is immense, what’s greater is the emotional journey.

Many Founders are not prepared for this emotional journey at all and more often than not, the narrative and support from investors, is still about the idea and the financial or company growth milestones. The narrative about the emotional growth of the Founder, team members or the requirements for that growth are given less significance, if at all.

In the 1990’s which nostalgically I consider the boom-and-bust days of the modern startup ecosystem all you needed was an amazing idea and investors from VC’s, Private Equity, Family Offices et al would throw money at you; many startups failed then and are still failing now. The statistical reality depending on who’s figures you read, is that over two-thirds of startups failed to show a positive return.

Startup failure is complex, from failing to raise enough capital; great idea but poor product to a great product but poor market execution, the list can really be endless; yet for me, the fundamental reason for failure is decision making, which is an emotional construct.

I would argue therefore that evaluating the emotional adeptness of the Founder or early team members is crucial, not only for the startup itself but for the investors too.

The Human Leader:

As humans, we are for all intents and purposes, emotional beings and the complexity in which we process our thoughts, formulate choices and thus actions our decisions are profound.

Founders are as distinct in their life experiences as anyone else, but in the face of a relentless flow of challenges, the principal challenge and the one which is rarely discussed is their own expectations to deliver.

The process of making sense of the world is dynamic and constantly changing and we constantly create and perceive opinions of the world around us including our own abilities, we do this by building contextual emotional libraries based on past experiences, but whether Founders are just starting out, have seed funding or are at or beyond Series B the emotional resilience needed is immense.

It is vital, therefore, to understand how emotions have an impact on Founder decision-making processes and how they approach and resolve challenges and move from transactional to conversational to relational decision-making.

Emotional Decision Making:

Depending on who you read there are over 200 categorised emotions. If we just paused for a moment, I’m sure we wouldn’t be able to mention more than 30 and we would most certainly miscategorise many emotions, the classical example being, fear and anxiety. Although it is not imperative to know all of the categorised emotions available to us, what is important, is to understand what emotions are prevalent in our daily lives and form part of our daily habits and moods which can govern our decision-making.

Davinci talked about the development of a complete mind and Theory of Mind (ToM) studies have allowed an insight into the outcomes of different types of mind growth, both cognitive and affective. Antonio Damasio in Descartes’ Error demonstrates the clear connection between limbic systems of mood and emotions and our cortex of language and analytical reasoning.

Founders not communicating their vulnerabilities or even more so, not understanding their emotional selves, perpetuate the outdated perspective of, ‘don’t talk about your emotions it means you are weak, play to your strengths fumble along and fake it ‘til you make it.’

The opposite is true. Understand your emotional self, and build an awareness of how your moods and emotions govern your life and decision-making patterns.

Value Creation Through Patterns of Successful Execution:

Once all of the initial perspectives of funding, talent, organisational structure etc. are put in place, the real value of building longevity in a successful (however that may be defined) startup, is through the compounding of daily decision-making and execution over many years. The idea itself on any startup's timeline is minuscule compared to the relentless process of solving challenges.

All Founders and leaders live in an interpretive world with unique observations. Therefore, solving challenges through previous behavioural and actionable patterns of success for current or future horizon doesn’t always work. Albert Einstein’s quote, “We cannot solve our problems with the same level of thinking that created them,” rings very true.

With the multiple incoming flows of complex information that require multiple levels of decision-making and action, Founders often rely upon common ‘cookie cutter’ leadership approaches.

Arguably, in these circumstances, leaders use natural linear chains of decision-making actions which often do not provide the intended results. Linear decision-making may work well in one set of circumstances but not so well in others.

Founders therefore need to possess the ability to learn through a growth mindset and display a diversity of competencies to be able to deal with crises or complex situations.

Improved Support Please:

Startup investors, accelerators and incubators alike will offer you the standard support structure of mentors (usually someone who has created a successful startup in the past). Although mentors provide great value to the Founder or startup journey, they only fulfil one part of what’s needed for Founders to succeed.

There is a great difference between mentoring and coaching. Mentor insights can be invaluable but are certainly not a panacea and what worked for the mentor may not work for the Founder, simply because they are two differing people with differing decision-making mindsets, in two differing organisations, in a constantly changing market space.

The deep-rooted reason Founders really need support is not necessarily the past experience of what worked for someone else, but a multi-layered understanding of themselves, including how they observe the world around them, why they make decisions the way they do; the way in which they interact with their teams, customers et al and ultimately an understanding of what transformation is needed to emotionally grow; only then will they begin to become a formidable leader. I have only come across one VC fund offering long-term coaching support to its startup Founders, which in itself is astonishing.

The Learning Mind Frame:

All leaders come from differing cultures, life experiences, career backgrounds and financial circumstances and express and learn differently. The lens through which they observe the world is unique; the way they use language; and the way in which they build their own world narrative including the stories that they tell themselves affects organisations the world over including startups.

If our perceived opinions create instincts, habits and triggers and if our internal language creates action, then how does a Founder deal with decision-making when a new challenge arises, unless they are willing and more importantly able to learn and develop?

Founders that I have worked with have outwardly expressed a range of emotions from lack of self-confidence and imposter syndrome to overly domineering social behaviour including arrogance and over-confidence, clearly, understanding emotional intelligence does not mean you are emotionally intelligent.

Building the correct mind frame will move Founders and their teams into a learning and growth mind frame, deepening meta-cognition and sharpening their decision-making through self-authorship.

Without a deep understanding of themselves, leaders cannot move away from the engrained predispositions and cognitive biases that surround them. The very fabric that governs the decision-making process is based on moods, emotions, habits, instincts, dispositions, rituals, probability, predictions, time and many other factors. As a Founder, if you only operate in the world as you recognise it; rather than the world that it can be, then your decision-making will be as underdeveloped as your thinking.

Founders need to demonstrate their ability to successfully adapt in ambiguous situations and be masters of learning and drivers of both growth and change.

Final Thoughts:

Founders that learn, reflect and harness their emotions will begin a journey of discovery and enter a world of exponential possibilities.

The ability and resolve to face new challenges and create effective generative impact doesn’t come from authority or control, but by being able to look inward.

Founders that nurture their emotional constructs will ultimately build deeper purpose, observation, the ability to reframe challenges and the profound ability to build both the resilience & resourcefulness to continuously adapt in the context of uncompromising market forces and constant change, creating progressive results, inclusive leadership and the ability to better guide and support individuals, teams and the startup as a whole.

If Founders and their teams instinctively build an internal learning journey, the unicorn is not a guarantee but certainly closer than it has ever been.