Why This Founder Left Her Own Company | Wearing Masks as a Founder | Mental Health for Entrepreneurs | The Price of a Successful Startup | Finding the Right Investors – Nora Blum, Selfapy

About this episode

At 23, Nora Blum founded Selfapy and built the company over seven years into a team of up to 100 employees. She made significant contributions to the development of digital health applications and helped thousands of people with her products. But now Nora has stepped away from her own company – and sees many things more clearly than before.

The Price of Success

For two months now, Nora has no longer been at the helm of her company. Her first two priorities after stepping down: hiking alone through Portugal for a month and reading. A lot of reading. This conscious break highlights what many founders struggle with – mental health and self-care too often fall by the wayside.

In conversation with Fabian, Nora shares her insights from a time marked by success, but also enormous stress. A time when her own personality was too often left at the front door.

The Mask of the Professional Founder

One of the central questions arising from Nora's experience: How do you not lose yourself in a world where everything must be professional? Many founders know this dilemma – they have to play a role that doesn't always correspond to their true personality.

Nora had to put her personality on the back burner for the company and had to pretend to be someone else in the business. This experience raises the question of whether she would do everything the same way again today or whether she would no longer hide her personality so much.

Mental Health as a Blind Spot

Paradoxically, Nora worked in a company dedicated to mental health but struggled with typical founder problems herself. Many entrepreneurs have trouble switching off – even on vacation, they find it hard to relax.

The question of how long it took Nora to truly disconnect after stepping down reveals the depth of this problem. Why is it often so difficult for founders to cope with free time?

The Right Time for Investors

Another important aspect of Nora's experience concerns working with investors. When should you bring investors on board and when do investors simply mean additional stress?

Nora's perspective on this question is particularly valuable since she experienced both the advantages and challenges of investor relationships. Selecting the right investors and the importance of founder-friendly terms play a crucial role in this.

Lessons for Future Ventures

After her intensive founder experience at Selfapy, Nora has developed clear ideas about what she would focus on if she were to start a new company today. These insights are particularly valuable for aspiring entrepreneurs who want to learn from others' experiences.

The decision to leave the company may have even made Nora's work easier – a surprising twist that shows how complex the relationship between founders and their companies can be.

Conclusion: Redefining Success

Nora's story is a compelling example of how success comes at a price – and that sometimes it's necessary to take a step back to see the bigger picture. Her experiences offer valuable lessons about balancing professional success with personal well-being.

For founders in similar situations, Nora's path shows that it's possible to build successful companies without sacrificing your own mental health and personality. The art lies in setting the right course early on.