The session was led by Elise Bergmann from Tripod, who works daily with founders, leaders, and teams through psychological assessments and development processes. Instead of offering productivity hacks or resilience slogans, the talk focused on something more fundamental: how founders actually behave under sustained pressure — and why burnout is usually a regulation problem, not a workload problem.

Pressure doesn’t create new behaviour.
It strips away coping layers and reveals your default patterns.

Why pushing harder often makes things worse

One of the core insights of the session was that pressure has a very specific psychological function. When things are calm, most people appear self-aware, emotionally intelligent, and reasonable. Under pressure, however, those layers fall away. What remains is not intention or values, but automatic regulation patterns.

These patterns are not conscious choices. They are fast, reflex-like responses shaped by personality and nervous system sensitivity — similar to pulling your hand away from a hot stove before you have time to think.

Elise described several common stress responses founders fall into:

• overcontrolling and micromanaging to regain certainty
• avoiding decisions and deferring responsibility
• becoming sharp, impatient, or emotionally reactive
• scattering attention and losing focus

None of these responses indicate bad leadership or weak character. They are simply different systems trying to restore stability as quickly as possible. The problem begins when founders mistake speed and activity for ownership.

The illusion of control

Many high-performing founders believe they are in control because they are decisive, fast, and constantly doing something. The session challenged this belief.

Speed, Elise explained, is not the same as self-leadership. Many high performers are not actually leading themselves — they are being driven by their nervous systems. When reactions become automatic, ownership disappears, even if output remains high.

This is where overwhelm begins. Not as a sudden collapse, but as a gradual loss of agency.

Burnout as chronic misregulation

Burnout rarely comes from working too much alone. According to Elise, it emerges from acting against one’s natural rhythm for too long, while relying on strategies that work short-term but drain long-term.

Burnout, in this framing, is not a failure of motivation or discipline. It is prolonged self-betrayal in the name of performance.

Founders often confuse coping with recovery. Numbing — through screens, constant consumption, or distraction — reduces discomfort, but does not restore capacity. Regulation, by contrast, requires awareness and effort. It is harder, slower, and far more effective.

If recovery avoids awareness, it is not recovery — it is avoidance.

Why one-size-fits-all solutions fail

A recurring theme in the session was the danger of generic advice. Founders respond to stress differently because they regulate differently. Treating burnout as a single condition ignores its root causes.

Elise compared burnout to illness: there are symptoms and there are underlying causes. Addressing only symptoms does not resolve the problem. Addressing only causes without stabilising symptoms also fails. Effective recovery requires understanding both.

This is why quick fixes and universal frameworks often disappoint. Without understanding personal stress patterns, founders repeat the same cycles — even when applying new tools.

Personality as a system, not a label

A central part of the session focused on personality — not as a label, but as an operating system. Drawing on research from the Big Five personality model and genetic studies, Elise explained that a significant portion of personality is inherited.

Personality, she argued, is like a body. Everyone has the same basic structure, but with different proportions, sensitivities, and strengths. Environment shapes how those traits are expressed, but it does not replace them.

Elise introduced a three-layered model:

• a core layer of innate traits and nervous system sensitivity
• an environmental layer shaped by upbringing, culture, and work context
• an outer layer of learned competencies and behaviours

Competencies can be developed, but they consume energy when they are not aligned with core traits. When a role relies primarily on outer-layer skills, burnout risk increases — especially under pressure.

Startups as high-risk environments

The startup context amplifies everything. Constant change, high uncertainty, and blurred boundaries mean that even well-suited people will burn out without regulation. Leadership roles intensify this effect: founders are not just driving themselves, but carrying others with them.

Without self-awareness, founders eventually crash — not because they are weak, but because they are navigating a storm without knowing their vehicle.

From awareness to ownership

Awareness alone is not enough. Knowing one’s personality does not automatically change behaviour. Ownership emerges when awareness is paired with real-time regulation — noticing internal states before acting, not after damage is done.

In this state, pressure becomes information rather than a threat. Stress is not eliminated, but it is interpreted. Leadership shifts from reaction to choice.
Ownership, Elise concluded, is the ability to stay conscious under pressure. For founders, this is not a soft skill — it is a survival skill.

The session left participants with a clear message: sustainable performance does not come from pushing harder. It comes from understanding how you are wired, regulating accordingly, and leading yourself with the same intention you apply to building your company.