I went and told our accelerator that I was dealing with depression. They now want to "part ways" and kick us out of the accelerator under the premise of "me getting better." Fuck accelerators. Fuck this corporate one.
9 answers from the community
They are laws against discrimination, tell them to fly a quite. Depression is a medical condition, they can't do that
Sure they can, free country.
You are not entitled to free investment money and if the founder turns out to be mentally unstable I wouldn't invest either.
Seriously what did Op think would happen? Tell your health condition your doctor, not your business partners.
It's very unprofessional to burden your private problems to your investor.
OP here. They asked if everything was okay. They told me that the accelerator was a "safe place" and to "be vulnerable."
Don't say that shit if you don't mean it.
Or other lesson learned: Don't be stupid enough as an entrepreneur to believe any of that when you're told it.
Give us a list of corporate accelerators within which yours is mentioned so we can keep their corporate attitudes in mind should we enter one...
Actually fuck politically correct ! Tell us the name of this accelerator !
They have to be blacklisted somewhere !
People have to know what kind of asshole they are !
This is actually a very interesting topic. Obviously in a company atmosphere with any sort of competent HR, this issue would have been handled appropriately. What obligation does an accelerator have? You aren't working for them right?
On one side I can see if that I made an investment with some business and didn't have faith in them because of the instability of the CEO, I shouldn't be held to some high moral standard that I can't remove my investment going forward.
On the other side, an accelerator is sort of an in-between between a straight investment and a support group/company. They should have some responsibilities above and beyond a straight investor.
I think anyone entering an accelerator should have the business acumen to understand they exist to make money at the end of the day. There should be some group though (not sure who this would be) which define their roles and expectations to the start-up community more clearly.
Accelerators are pieces of shit... Now you know... Fuck em. They are filled with pieces of shit that think that because you feel one way today, you'll always feel that way. They are unempathetic and I hope every employee of every accelerator hits bottom when this shit comes crashing down and learns quickly why and how someone going through things needs them to not be spineless pieces of crap.
I feel your pain, but I also know that a break is good, but to make your team pay in its entirety just shows how big of douches they all are.
Name them.
Please name them- because obvsly, this was not a "safe space"
Depression is very common among entrepreneurs- and Brad Feld (and others) have been open about their own struggles. I am part of Techstars and my experience is that they are supportive of the emotional struggles that founders go through. A less emotionally aware accelerator might just not understand how almost every founder goes through this. I mean, startups are very high pressure and stressful situations.
That said, if you are in a major depression and can't get out of bed, you might need to take a break and get treatment. My experience with depression has been that I am actually happiest when I have work and I am busy.
There is a lot that you haven't told us, like whether or not this is affecting your ability to work because if it is, then I think that it might be reasonable for the accelerator to suggest that you part ways. When it comes down to it, they are a business and need entrepreneurs to be healthy enough to lead companies.