As founders, it’s easy to let our startups define us. Metrics rise and we feel unstoppable. Metrics fall and we feel worthless. What starts as passion can quietly morph into identity fusion — where who we are becomes completely entangled with what we’re building.

In this episode, I unpack one of the most overlooked challenges in entrepreneurship: the psychological trap of founder identity captivity. Drawing from my own first startup experience and research on founder mental health, I explore why this happens, how startup culture and investors reinforce it, and the real costs it has on resilience, creativity, and wellbeing.

Most importantly, I share the tools, exercises, and mindset shifts that have helped me reclaim my sense of self while building my second startup. From reintroducing myself to forgotten passions, to tracking internal wins instead of just external metrics, to building systems of identity support — this is a roadmap for separating your worth from your company’s performance.

Because the truth is: you are not your roadmap, your pitch deck, or your quarterly numbers. You’re the person building the company — and the more grounded you are in your full identity, the stronger and more sustainable your startup will become.

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