“It can be difficult for people to know who they can speak to about it,” says Amy Lewin, of entrepreneurs who are unhappy in their own companies. Amy is the Editor at Sifted, a media platform focused on Europe’s startup ecosystem and she joins The Conscious Entrepreneur podcast to discuss a survey Sifted recently posed to a number of entrepreneurs, the vast majority of whom reported experiencing poor mental health, high stress and even a strong desire to leave their businesses within the coming year. Though these figures may seem alarming, they merely shed light on common struggles and pressures felt by entrepreneurs which are so often swept under the rug for fear of looking weak or needing to maintain an ultra positive mindset in order to see their businesses succeed. On today’s episode Amy will reveal more of the survey’s findings as well as what venture capitalists (VCs) can do to support entrepreneurs, in whom they, after all, have a vested interest.

The survey highlights the importance of a community in an entrepreneur’s life. Family and friends share the entrepreneur’s burden, while simultaneously being unable to relate. Professional networks of like-minded contemporaries can go a long way toward making isolated individuals feel heard and connected, as well as ease the mental health stigma.

Today, Amy shares the common regret shared among most entrepreneurs and why quitting might be the best thing they could do for their careers.

Quotes

• “It was just a real sign of the personal toll—and not just even on the founders, but on their family, on their friends, on their colleagues—just another reminder that building startups is really tough.” (4:48 | Amy Lewin)
• “Whenever we publish stories about that personal side of company building at Sifted, we get the most amazing response. People love knowing that they’re not the only ones. And I think sometimes, startup culture is so much that you’ve got to be optimistic. You’ve got to believe that your company can be the one in 100 that’s going to really make it. You hear from so many people that your idea is never going to work and you have to believe in it yourself and I think when times are really hard it can be difficult for people to know who they can speak to about it.” (6:27 | Amy Lewin)
• “That attitude that’s going to be out there from some corners that if you are struggling in any way then you are weak and that you’re not in it for the long term, which I obviously don’t believe, but is obviously what some people still think.” (13:04 | Amy Lewin)
• “Encourage founders to go on holiday. Encourage them to have a personal life. These things are important. We all need to recharge our batteries and ‘visionaries do,’ too. There’s that famous saying that comes from the VC world: “I’ve never seen a company go bust because the founder took a week off, but I have seen plenty of companies go bust because the founder didn’t.’” (18:26 | Amy Lewin and Alex Raymond)

Links

Connect with Amy Lewin:

https://sifted.eu/articles/founder-mental-health-2024

Connect with Alex Raymond:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/afraymond/

Website: https://consciousentrepreneur.us/

HiveCast.fm is a proud sponsor of The Conscious Entrepreneur Podcast.

Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm

Traditional leadership models tend to choose between kindness and clarity. Zen teacher and executive coach Marc Lesser argues that’s a false dichotomy.

In this episode, Sarah sits down with Marc to unpack the concept of compassionate accountability — or in Marc’s preferred language, alignment with caring. It’s the core of modern Entrepreneurship and Business leadership: setting clear expectations while staying deeply connected to the humans you work with. Instead of defaulting to micromanagement or passivity, leaders can choose high standards and high trust at the same time, the key to building high performing teams without sacrificing wellbeing.

Marc shares why psychological safety isn’t just a cultural ideal, it’s a metric that correlates directly with business performance. Referencing Google’s Project Aristotle, he explains how teams perform better when leaders normalize mistakes, invite real feedback, and resist the urge to appear infallible. A strong team culture isn’t born from rigid systems or motivational slogans, it comes from leaders modeling vulnerability and follow-through. If you’ve ever wondered how to hold people accountable with compassion, this episode is your roadmap.

Episode Breakdown:

00:00 Marc Lesser & Compassionate Accountability

02:51 What Compassionate Accountability Looks Like in Leadership

07:19 Misconceptions About Accountability and Compassion

13:14 Vulnerability as a Leadership Strategy

15:02 Google’s Psychological Safety Study & Business Impact

20:01 Emotional Intelligence and Business Performance

24:51 Turning Breakdowns Into Breakthroughs

29:21 How to Hold People Accountable With Compassion

32:05 Leadership Lessons From the Zen Monastery Kitchen

34:06 Prioritizing Joy and Humanity in High-Performing Teams

36:21 Daily Habits to Build Clarity and Trust

Connect with Marc Lesser:

Visit Marc’s website

Connect with Sarah Lockwood:

Visit HiveCast

Connect with Sarah on LinkedIn

Connect with The Conscious Entrepreneur:

The Conscious Entrepreneur website

Follow The Conscious Entrepreneur on LinkedIn

Follow The Conscious Entrepreneur on Instagram

Subscribe to The Conscious Entrepreneur on YouTube

HiveCast.fm is a proud sponsor of The Conscious Entrepreneur Podcast.

Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm

Entrepreneurship demands resilience, but too many founders rely on pressure and self-criticism as their fuel. Mike Robbins joins Sarah Lockwood to unpack why most business leaders treat self-worth as a scoreboard metric, praising achievement while ignoring wellbeing. He draws a clear line between recognition (results-based approval) and appreciation (inherent value), making the case that positive self-talk is foundational to sustainable leadership.

Mike shares how losing his professional baseball career forced him to confront a brutal truth: he had spent years chasing success without ever appreciating himself along the way. His philosophy of self-compassion isn’t about lowering standards, it’s about upgrading your mindset from harsh critic to effective coach. Entrepreneurs don’t need more pressure; they need healthier internal leadership.

The discussion then turns to feedback, another place where leaders misinterpret signals. Instead of defaulting to defense or shame, Mike suggests receiving feedback with curiosity rather than judgment. That small shift turns critique into growth material instead of evidence of failure.

This conversation reframes business success as an inner game as much as an external one. When wellbeing and performance are treated as allies rather than opposites, leaders become both more effective and more human.

Episode Breakdown:

00:00 Why Entrepreneurs Struggle with Self-Talk

01:14 The Leadership Mindset Shift

05:41 Mike Robbins’ Baseball Story and the Cost of Self-Judgment

09:34 How to Build Self-Compassion Without Losing Your Edge

14:07 Receiving Feedback Without Crumbling or Getting Defensive

18:37 How to Ask for Better Feedback (and Actually Grow from It)

22:05 Balancing High Performance with Humanity in Leadership

24:10 Evolving as Entrepreneurs Beyond Grit Alone

Links

Connect with Mike Robbins:

Connect with Mike on LinkedIn

Visit Mike Robbin’s Website

Connect with Sarah Lockwood:

Connect with Sarah on LinkedIn

Visit HiveCast

Connect with The Conscious Entrepreneur:

The Conscious Entrepreneur

Follow The Conscious Entrepreneur on LinkedIn

Follow The Conscious Entrepreneur on Instagram

Subscribe to The Conscious Entrepreneur on YouTube

HiveCast.fm is a proud sponsor of The Conscious Entrepreneur Podcast.

Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm