Do mental illness and retail entrepreneurship go hand-in-hand?
Andy Dunn selfie from June, 2018 – Source: Twitter/@dunn

Do mental illness and retail entrepreneurship go hand-in-hand?

In his book, “Burn Rate: Launching a Startup and Losing My Mind,” Bonobos co-founder and former CEO Andy Dunn opens up about his bipolar disorder diagnosis, exploring the inherent challenges as well as how it fueled his entrepreneurial spirit.

On the positive side, Mr. Dunn writes in the book that his “controlled hypomania” helped him work long days and generate “kinetic positive energy” to inspire his staff, recruits and innovation. He writes, “Everything is clicking, everything is making sense, life has purpose. Colors seem brighter; gratitude flows. This is the zone where creativity and productivity flourish.”

Mr. Dunn hit a low point about a year before Bonobos’ 2017 sale to Walmart when he spent a week in a psychiatric ward and faced assault charges for hitting his future wife and kicking her mother.

The book brings up the fate of Tony Hsieh, who died a few months after stepping down as Zappos’ CEO from injuries in a house fire following a drug spiral.

Mr. Dunn told CNBC, “He was a hero to me. And then, obviously, he had been privately suffering. I think that’s a part of the typical entrepreneur archetype, someone who’s got that — a brilliant, charismatic spirit. And it’s expected, right? You got to show up with that every day, and that’s inhuman to expect out of anyone.”

A UC Berkeley study found that 72 percent of entrepreneurs are directly or indirectly affected by mental health issues compared to 48 percent of non-entrepreneurs. Of the entrepreneurs they studied, 30 percent had a history of depression, 29 percent had ADHD, 12 percent had substance abuse issues and 11 percent reported having bipolar disorder.

There has been a broad push for decades to destigmatize mental illness and Mr. Dunn is seeking to elevate the discussion in business circles. He writes in the book, “Let’s not celebrate ‘crazy,’ and let’s not stigmatize it, either. Let’s just deal with mental illness — openly, transparently, medically, chemically, in the mirror and in living rooms and conference rooms, boardrooms and family rooms and bedrooms and, yes, rooms with trained therapists and psychiatrists — and let’s, for everyone’s sake, stop pretending that it’s not here.”

BrainTrust

"Whether entrepreneur or corporate worker, the struggle is real and real help isn’t as available as it should be."

Jeff Weidauer

President, SSR Retail LLC


"I’m all for harnessing your strengths for career success, but this is a bit too much of a leap."

Jenn McMillen

Chief Accelerant at Incendio & Forbes Contributing Writer


"Without pretending to be an expert, I think it’s a bridge too far to draw an explicit connection between entrepreneurial skill and mental health challenges."

Dick Seesel

Principal, Retailing In Focus LLC


Discussion Questions

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS: Does it make sense that the same traits that make someone well-suited to entrepreneurship make that person vulnerable to mental health crises? What advice would you have for entrepreneurs struggling to cope with the ups and downs of a retail start-up? 

Poll

13 Comments
Oldest
Newest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Richard Hernandez
Active Member
1 year ago

In my opinion — I don’t know, this may be a stretch.

Yes, you need a sense of adventure and have to be willing to take big risks in being an entrepreneur, but I don’t think it means that they necessarily have mental health issues. I also think the added stress can amplify those issues.

Evan Snively
Member
Reply to  Richard Hernandez
1 year ago

Agreed Richard – it seems logical that the stress of starting up a business, the weight of feeling responsible for a vision and the livelihoods of others, not to mention the access to perhaps less than ideal habits that it might provide are, if not more responsible, an inherent correlation.

Brad Halverson
Active Member
Reply to  Richard Hernandez
1 year ago

Yes to this. Have worked closely alongside or watched many entrepreneurs. Haven’t seen too many issues of mental illness. But the stress and other life trade-offs are very real.

Neil Saunders
Famed Member
1 year ago

Sadly, many people suffer from mental health issues for a whole variety of reasons. The pressure and stress of being an entrepreneur probably make crises more likely. There is no one-size-fits-all or simple solution, however I would say balance and support are both key. Balance in the sense that work is not the be-all-end-all and should not be all consuming. Support in the sense that having a good network of reliable family and friends is vital.

Dion Kenney
1 year ago

It’s a slippery slope when we start to ascribe mental health issues to entrepreneurship and the value creation process. As my sociology professor once told me, when explaining seemingly anti-social behavior in politicians, “there’s nothing wrong them, they’re just jerks.” On the other hand, as George Bernard Shaw said “The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore, all progress depends on the unreasonable man.” I suppose the question comes down to whether being unreasonable is a mental health issue or just a manifestation of being a jerk.

Dick Seesel
Trusted Member
1 year ago

Without pretending to be an expert, I think it’s a bridge too far to draw an explicit connection between entrepreneurial skill and mental health challenges. Can the stresses of running a successful startup business contribute to pre-existing conditions? Sure — but there are plenty of entrepreneurs who do not deal with mental health issues.

Conversely, there are plenty of people living more “routine” lives that also suffer from mental health concerns. The challenge of normalizing (not stigmatizing) those issues is to identify and treat them, whether the person is running a startup company or delivering packages for Amazon.

Jeff Weidauer
Jeff Weidauer
Member
1 year ago

Maybe the question we should be asking is what companies are doing for the 48 percent of non-entrepreneurs identified in the study. And how many CEOs would be included here? Whether entrepreneur or corporate worker, the struggle is real and real help isn’t as available as it should be.

Jenn McMillen
Active Member
1 year ago

I’m all for harnessing your strengths for career success, but this is a bit too much of a leap.

Paula Rosenblum
Noble Member
1 year ago

I’m sorry, but it strikes me as an almost bigoted question. Apart from dyslexia, which tends to help people think in different ways, and is not a mental illness, mental illness is a sorrow for those who have it.

Gosh, that’s a stretch.

Georganne Bender
Noble Member
1 year ago

This is Andy Dunn’s story. Mental health issues are individual — not something that can be painted with a broad brushstroke. Entrepreneurship is hard but does it make you more vulnerable to mental health issues? I don’t have a definitive answer but I’m with Paula, it seems like a stretch to me.

Craig Sundstrom
Craig Sundstrom
Noble Member
1 year ago

I don’t have any trouble at all thinking there’s a correlation between some traits — it’s no accident that we have phrases like “a crazy level of attention to detail” — but … what do we do with that knowledge? If someone’s behavior is disruptive or harmful, either to themselves, their family or others, I don’t think it makes much difference that they’re 283% as likely to be the next [insert famous entrepreneur here] — or whatever … their behavior is harmful.

Anil Patel
Member
1 year ago

Lowe’s has been continuously adding value to the Home Improvement division. They have positioned themselves as a visionary brand. Metaverse combined with virtual and augmented reality will bring customers an array of possibilities such as visualization capabilities. It will directly serve as a tool for customers to bring new frontiers into their imaginations.

Roland Gossage
Member
1 year ago

I think you have to be a little crazy to build or even lead a company. I would agree with this article that entrepreneurs do have a higher rate of mental health issues. Again, it not all, just a higher rate. Does that allow you to always do some things better, maybe, but it can also go the other way.