I'm really glad these issues keep coming up. I think it shows real growth in our community. Many great points here, but I'll just highlight one: "But whatever

I'm really glad these issues keep coming up. I think it shows real growth in our community. Many great points here, but I'll just highlight one: "But whatever your particular problem is, I promise you, other people have it. People in the community have gone through it. Many people have gone through it, in fact." The technical name for this is universality. It is one of the most helpful parts of group therapy. You hesitantly share what is on your mind and then suddenly discover that in a small group there are usually at least 1-2 other people that can really identify with what you are describing. For us, as founders or startup people in general, we can tell ourselves, "I'm really struggling with X right now. Okay, it is very likely that many other people are struggling with X right now or have struggled with X in the past. They've made it to the other side and I will as well. It is just going to take time." X might be normal startup concerns like growth, retention, co-founder issues, employee issues, client issues, bugs, investor issues etc. Or, it might be more personal issues that are often tied to startups: pressure, unrealistic high expectations from self or others, stress, anxiety, depression etc. Whatever X is, there are many other people that are currently experiencing it or have made it through to the other side. It helps to know that we are not alone and we can keep moving forward by taking one step at a time!