The Founder Mental Health Survey.
An anonymous community survey of mental health & well-being for startup founders everywhere. Validated clinical screeners (PHQ-9, GAD-7, ASRS, AQ-10, MBI-GS) plus founder-specific dimensions of ambition, personality, and relationships.
Desperately want to save my friendship and my company
Why this exists
Founders carry a psychological burden that's mostly invisible — to investors, to employees, to family, often to themselves. Cofounder conflict, identity-merge with the company, money pressure, isolation, the relentless self-judgment.
When you see your own results next to other founders', the loneliest stuff stops feeling so unique. You're not the outlier you think you are.
Aggregate results will be published openly so the founder community has a clearer picture of what mental health and well-being actually look like at this stage.
What it measures
Validated clinical screeners, plus founder-specific sections on cofounder relationship, ambition, help-seeking, and substance use.
How We Ensure Anonymity
Responses are tied to a random access code, not your identity. Email (if you leave one) lives in a separate table with no join key — even we can't look you up by email.
Don't take our word for it: the schema and source are open on GitHub.
Y Combinator alum? We have a YC-specific version that captures batch info.