teshmbaabu

It’s been over a year since I last shared here — not for lack of stories, but because life got loud, fast, and full.

Building a startup (especially in Africa) is no walk in the park. It’s a mix of relentless passion, endless hustle, and the constant balancing act of delivering value while staying sane. Over the past few years, I’ve been in the trenches — solving problems that matter (we recently launched Pluto by Chpter for example), building and managing teams in multiple time zones, scaling across markets, fundraising across continents, and still trying to be a decent human being. I’ve experienced the adrenaline of a successful product launch, the soul-sapping exhaustion that creeps in quietly afterward, the gut-wrenching effects of failing, and the inexplicable courage it takes to stand up, dust off, and choose to do it all over again.

This post isn’t a polished sermon. It’s a reflection. A real talk with fellow builders — about burnout, self-preservation, and the slow, often messy journey towards sustainable entrepreneurship.

The Early Signs I Ignored

Burnout doesn’t announce itself with a bang. It’s a slow leak.

In 2022, MarketForce was scaling fast — onboarding thousands of merchants, iterating the product, fighting fires, and chasing down investors from Nairobi and Lagos, to San Fransisco, London and Dubai. It was thrilling, but the costs were mounting. I started working 16-hour days, convincing myself it was temporary. My sleep became fragmented. My football workouts stopped. But the growth was too good to be true, the kind that any founder dreams about, so I kept going.

Come 2023, the business moved very quickly from a beautiful dream to the worst nightmare. A lot was going on. The business crashed and my second-born son was born at about the same time. That notwithstanding, I was still pumped enough to go at it again.

Launching Chpter 2.0 – Onboarding hundreds of merchants, iterating the product, fighting fires, and chasing down investors from Nairobi and Lagos, to Cape Town, San Fransisco and Dubai. It was thrilling, but the costs were mounting. Again, I started working 16-hour days, convincing myself it was temporary. My sleep became fragmented. My football workouts stopped. But the growth was too good to be true, the kind that any founder dreams about, so I kept going. Yap! Same story, all over again!

It’s early 2025. Suddenly, I became irritable in meetings and emotionally numb. Often times, in the middle of a meetings, I started blanking out. Not from lack of interest — from sheer mental exhaustion. I also started waking up with near-zero energy, motivation or inspiration, totally unlike me! That was my wake-up call.

Burnout doesn’t just affect your output — it creeps into your identity, your relationships, your joy and even makes you question your purpose. I had become so intertwined with the startup hustle that I didn’t notice the cost until it started showing in places I couldn’t ignore: my energy, my patience, my presence.

I wish I could say I caught it early, but I didn’t. Like many founders, I wore resilience like a badge of honor. Pushing through became second nature — until pushing any harder felt like running on fumes.

So I made a choice.

I didn’t stop building — that’s in my DNA — but I started building differently. I sought therapy. I picked football back up. I blocked off nights just to be a Friend and Dad, not CEO. I leaned on my team more and gave myself permission to pause without guilt. I stopped glamorizing the grind.

In recent months, I’ve had countless conversations with fellow founders — from scrappy seed-stage hustlers to well-funded Series B founders. And there’s one thing we all agree on: the pressure never really lets up. The stakes just change. Whether you’re trying to find product-market fit or navigating board politics, the stress evolves but never disappears. It hit me that burnout isn’t a sign of weakness — it’s usually the bill we pay for pushing past our limits in the relentless pursuit of progress.

And if we’re serious about building companies that last, we have to build founders that last too.

This post is a small nudge to other entrepreneurs: if you’re running on empty, don’t wait for a crash. Refuel. Your startup, team and stake holders need you — but as my coaches at PANI like to put it, founders need to arrive alive.

Three Things I’ve Learned the Hard Way

1. Being “always on” is not a badge of honor.

It’s a trap. The hustle culture teaches us that “rest is for the weak” and “we will sleep when we die”. But real strength lies in sustainability. I now take my sleep more seriously and schedule “me time” every Thursday afternoon — not for calls, not for meetings — just to think, walk, read, or even do nothing.

2. Build systems, don’t always play hero.

Before, I struggled to say no and tried to be everywhere: approving designs and budgets, fighting operational fires, pitching clients or investors, responding to due diligence questionnaires, attending conferences, you name it. That was ego, not leadership. Today, I invest more in building a team that can operate without me. Delegation is not laziness —  it’s a powerful expression of trust, allowing your vision to scale beyond you.

3. Wellness is not a side hustle — it’s the main hustle.

I’ve returned to football nights. I pen down my thoughts. I take therapy seriously. Mental health isn’t just for emergencies — it’s what keeps you steady every day.  Mental well-being enables you to cope with the stresses of life, realize your abilities, learn well and work well, and be in the best state to positively contribute to your business and community.

Some Practical Tips for Fellow Founders

Check your calendar: Is it packed with 10 back-to-back calls, or does it include breaks for deep work and breathing space?

Design your day like you design your product: Test. Optimize. Prioritize user (your) experience.

Create “off” rituals: For me, it’s phone-free Sundays and a quarterly travel detox week off. For you, it might be yoga, music, or long walks.

Talk about it: I’ve made wellness part of my team check-ins. “How are you doing?” is a real question, not small talk.

Get help: Hire a coach, talk to a therapist, join a founders’ circle. You’re not weak for needing support. You’re smart for recognizing the load.

What I’m Still Figuring Out

Balance isn’t a destination. It’s a rhythm. Some weeks test your limits. Others remind you why you started. I’ve learned to stop chasing perfect equilibrium and instead ask: Am I building a life I want to live, not just a company I want to scale?

To every founder, dreamer, and operator reading this: take care of yourself like you take care of your business. Rest, like capital, is a resource. Guard it. Invest in it.

The journey to impact is a long one. Don’t let burnout steal the ending.