KPMG Australia has taken a closer look at the impact of long hours, high stress and low pay on Australian startup leaders, examining the link between founder wellbeing and business performance.

Founders of 70 Australian venture-backed startups were polled by the first-of-kind research, run by KPMG Australia’s High Growth Ventures with support from venture capital firms including Blackbird Ventures, AirTree Ventures, Square Peg Capital, Reinventure and Right Click Capital.

The study found that, on average, startup founders work 64 hours a week, with 40 percent working seven days a week. 

Two-thirds of founders (66 percent) are very or extremely stressed, and more than half of respondents (57 percent) said that their stress has a large impact on the ability of their startup to succeed. 

A significant majority of founders (70 percent) draw less salary than in their previous role, and some reported that personal financial worries were affecting their family relationships.

Amanda Price, Head of KPMG Australia High Growth Ventures said a founder’s individual performance is one of the critical factors to the success or failure of their business. 

“Founders play a key role in driving innovation, taking massive risks, both personal and financial, to solve industry problems and build global businesses – yet there is very little data around the mental and physical toll of leading a startup,” she said. 

“Our research aims to shine a light on some of the unspoken challenges founders face, and to help highlight the link between founder wellbeing and business performance.”

Fit for success

When it came to health and fitness, and the relationship it has with business success, the results were striking: 88 percent of founders acknowledged that their physical wellbeing had a direct impact on their startup. Yet only 26 percent of founders reported being able to devote more than four hours per week to physical activity. Unsurprisingly, 43 percent are unhappy with their level of fitness.

Leading a high-growth venture also affects family relationships. The overwhelming majority of startup founders feel they are not spending enough quality time with the people they care about. Only a third feel they spend sufficient time with their spouse, and only 22 percent say they spend enough time with their children.

“While the Australian startup ecosystem offers a lot of support and understanding for founders, much is of this is one dimensional, focusing on the mechanics of starting and building a business. If we want more Australian startups to transition into global businesses, we need to help more founders become world class leaders. This means taking a more holistic approach, and participating in programs focused as much on the mental and physical well-being of the founder as on the performance of the startup,” said Amanda Price.

Amanda explained that the research findings were so stark they drove her to create a new program aimed at enabling unlocking sustainable high performance for the founders of Australian scaleups.

“The KPMG Founder Program launches later this year and has been designed to enhance both personal and business performance. It will be led by a team of facilitators ranging from athletes to serial entrepreneurs, and focuses not only on the health of the startup, but on the wellbeing of the founder as a whole,” she said.

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