Centering Well-Being is a new weekly newsletter and podcast pairing founder well-being research with real life. It will cover:

The true cost of building Why the system stays stuck Who pays when founders struggle What it would take to change

We are currently recording conversations with researchers whose work furthers founder well-being so that listeners can hear directly from the people behind the data. Episodes will be available publicly starting this April/May.

Central Question: What does chronic stress actually do to a founder's brain?

Context: We start with how the brain responds to stress at the molecular level, explore why founders are particularly vulnerable, then ask what recovery actually requires.

Q1: You've written that even mild uncontrollable stress can cause "rapid and dramatic loss" of our highest cognitive abilities. What does that actually mean for how we think?

Q2: You started this work after meeting a patient with schizophrenia who had been an astrophysicist. He could talk coherently about astronomy, but fell apart at the mention of a stressful memory. What did that moment teach you?

Q3: Walk me through what happens in the prefrontal cortex when someone experiences uncontrollable stress. What's actually changing?

Q4: You've described this as the brain flipping from "reflective to reflexive." What does that switch feel like from the inside?

Q5: Your research shows this isn't just chemistry. Chronic stress causes architectural changes. The brain physically reshapes itself. How quickly does that happen?

Q6: Is there a point where the damage compounds? Where stress makes someone more vulnerable to future stress?

Q7: Founders face what you'd call uncontrollable stress almost daily: fundraising rejection, market shifts, team problems they can't immediately fix. Based on your research, what would you expect to see in their brains?

Q8: You've noted that whether stress impairs function depends on whether someone feels in control. But founders are told to project confidence even when they feel none. What does that gap do to the brain?

Q9: A founder might read your research and think, "I just need to be tougher." Is mental toughness a real buffer, or is that a misunderstanding of how stress works?

Q10: When a founder's prefrontal cortex goes offline, they lose exactly the capacities they need most: judgment, impulse control, flexible thinking. Are we setting founders up to fail at the moment they most need to succeed?

Q11: What does this look like when it goes wrong? Not necessarily a founder, but someone under chronic uncontrollable stress.

Q12: Here's the question every founder listening wants answered: Can the brain recover from chronic stress?

Q13: Your research found that young rats recovered their prefrontal connections when stress stopped, but older rats didn't. What does that mean for founders who've been at this for years?

Q14: You've said that feeling a sense of control is protective. But founders often can't control their outcomes, only their effort. What does real recovery require when you can't escape the stressor?

Q15: You helped develop treatments like guanfacine for ADHD and prazosin for PTSD by understanding how stress chemicals work. Are there pharmaceutical interventions that could help founders under chronic stress?

Q16: If the startup ecosystem wanted to protect founders' brains the way sports medicine protects athletes, what would that look like?

Q17: Research like yours depends on federal funding. What's happening right now to neuroscience funding in the U.S.?

Q18: If this research slows down or stops, what do we lose?

Q19: Someone listening wants to help protect this kind of research. What can they do?

Q20: I'll ask you directly: Is chronic founder stress a neurological injury?

Q21: What's something you believe about stress and cognitive function that would surprise most people?

Q22: A founder is watching this and recognizing themselves. What do they do?

Centering Well-Being is a new weekly newsletter and podcast pairing founder well-being research with real life. It will cover:

The true cost of building Why the system stays stuck Who pays when founders struggle What it would take to change.

We are currently recording conversations with researchers whose work furthers founder well-being so that listeners can hear directly from the people behind the data. Episodes will be available publicly starting this April/May.

Central Question: Is founder well-being a public health crisis?

Context: We start with the scale of the problem, explore why investors won't fix it, then ask whether founder well-being should be treated as a public health issue and what that would mean for how government invests in entrepreneurship.

Q1: You've called founders a "vulnerable population." That's language we use for refugees and the elderly. Why founders?

Q2: After a decade of this work, what's the one thing that still frustrates you most?

Q3: Your research says half of entrepreneurs experience a mental health condition. Is that the real number or is it worse?

Q4: When did you first realize this wasn't just a personal problem but a systemic one?

Q5: When a founder starts struggling, what happens to everyone around them?

Q6: Econa is planning to screen 5,000 founders this year. What are you hoping to learn?

Q7: Insurance companies price founder health into their decisions. Why don't investors?

Q8: A few investors offer therapy stipends, coaching and support. Why isn't that more common?

Q9: Some would say founders chose this. They signed up for risk. Why is their well-being anyone else's problem?

Q10: If investors can't or won't solve this, who's left?

Q11: What changes when you look at founders as a population instead of individuals?

Q12: Is there a founder whose story changed how you think about government's role in this?

Q13: We've called gun violence a public health crisis. Opioids. Obesity. Does founder well-being belong in that category?

Q14: Startups create two-thirds of new jobs. If founders aren't supported, who pays for that?

Q15: Government already spends billions on entrepreneurship. Should founder well-being be part of that?

Q16: What would that actually look like at the city level, the state level and nationally?

Q17: I'll ask you directly: Is this a public health crisis?

Q18: What's something you believe about founder well-being that most people in venture would disagree with?

Q19: What happens if we keep ignoring it?

Q20: Someone's watching and wants to help. What do they do?

Centering Well-Being is a new weekly newsletter and podcast pairing founder well-being research with real life. It will cover:

The true cost of building Why the system stays stuck Who pays when founders struggle What it would take to change

We are currently recording conversations with researchers whose work furthers founder well-being so that listeners can hear directly from the people behind the data. Episodes will be available publicly starting this April/May.

Central Question: Why do "flexible work boundaries" become "work without boundaries," and what does that cost founders and their families?

Context: We start with what the research actually shows about after-hours work communication, explore how expectations alone cause harm even without time spent working, then ask what systems could actually protect people.

Q1: You've written that "flexible work boundaries" often turn into "work without boundaries." What made you want to study that?

Q2: You served on nuclear submarines in the Navy before becoming a researcher. On a sub, you might get one short radio message every three weeks. How did going from that to studying email overload shape how you see this problem?

Q3: Your most cited study is called "Killing Me Softly." Walk me through what you actually found about expectations for after-hours email monitoring.

Q4: One of the most striking findings is that it's not the time spent on email that affects people. It's the expectation. Why does the mere expectation have an impact even when someone isn't actually working?

Q5: You've studied how emails trigger emotions that change our thought patterns over time. Is there an asymmetry? Does a "great job" email offset the impact of an angry one?

Q6: Founders don't have bosses setting expectations for them. They set expectations for themselves. Does that make the problem better or worse?

Q7: This week's newsletter argues that founders make worse decisions when exhausted. Your research shows that even expecting to check email creates anxiety and exhaustion. Are founders already affected before they even open their inboxes?

Q8: You've researched how people who strongly prefer to keep work and personal life separate are most affected by always-on expectations. But founders are told to love their work so much that separation seems like a weakness. What does your research say about that?

Q9: A founder might say, "I can't set boundaries. If I don't respond immediately, I'll lose the deal or the candidate or the investor." What would you tell them?

Q10: You've written about "anticipatory stress." The stress of expecting demands even when there are none. Is there a version of founder life that doesn't create constant anticipatory stress?

Q11: Your research found something that surprised a lot of people: email expectations don't just affect employees. They affect their partners. Significant others reported lower relationship satisfaction and worse health even though they weren't the ones being emailed. What's happening there?

Q12: Founders often say their families understand the sacrifice. But based on your research, can families actually understand what's happening if the founder doesn't recognize the impact themselves?

Q13: If someone's partner is a founder and they're noticing changes, what should they be paying attention to?

Q14: You've said that solutions that ask individuals to fix this themselves won't work. Why not?

Q15: This week's newsletter draws from aviation. The FAA changed regulations after a crash caused by fatigued pilots. They didn't tell pilots to be more mindful. They required rest. What would the equivalent look like for people who work at desks and on screens?

Q16: You've talked about leaders needing to establish boundaries for their employees. But founders are the leaders. Who establishes boundaries for them?

Q17: If you could design how a startup runs day-to-day in a way that actually protected well-being, what would be non-negotiable?

Q18: What's something you believe about work-life boundaries that would surprise most people?

Q19: You've spent years studying what always-on work culture costs people. What gives you hope that it can change?

Q20: A founder is watching this and recognizing themselves. What's the first thing they should do?