🤖 #31: Vivian's Deeptech Insider: When Passion Isn't Enough

Hello and welcome to #31 edition of the fortnightly Vivian's Deeptech Insider.

Most entrepreneurs start with passion. The great ones stay because they've mastered detachment.

Passion gets you started. Data gets you results. But detachment? That's what keeps you from burning out when the inevitable roadblocks hit.

And as a founder, those roadblocks always feel personal:

• The customer who ghosts you

• The investor who "loves it" but stalls on due diligence

• The feature launch that flops despite all your customer discovery work

When you're inside the storm, every setback feels like a referendum on your worth. Every rejection stings. Every pivot feels like failure.

But here's what I learned: the right people around you can give you the detachment you can't give yourself.

The board advisors who changed everything

At my last startup, I had two exceptional board advisors who became my secret weapon against emotional decision-making. When I was spiralling about a major client loss, they helped me see it as market data, not personal failure. When I was ready to pivot our entire business model after one tough week, they asked the hard questions that revealed I was just scared, not strategic.

They weren't just names on a slide. They saw what I couldn't see. They provided the detachment I desperately needed but couldn't manufacture on my own.

Their guidance didn't just help us scale. It helped me grow into the CEO the company needed—one who could separate emotion from fact, especially when the stakes felt highest.

The problem with waiting

But here's what I wish someone had told me earlier: that kind of support shouldn't be reserved for later-stage companies with formal boards and quarterly meetings.

The moments you most need board-level clarity don't happen in conference rooms. They happen at 2am when you can’t fall asleep and you're questioning everything. They happen in the messy middle—when you're staring down a funding gap, weighing a pilot vs. a paid deal, or wondering if you're building the right company at all.

Most founders either wait too long to seek this kind of guidance, or they get stuck with advisors / NEDs who show up too late, or simply don't have the capacity to truly help when it matters.

I spent years thinking I had to figure it out alone. That needing help meant I wasn't cut out for this. But entrepreneurship isn't a solo sport—and the best founders know when to call in reinforcements.

Your strategic detachment practice

That's exactly why I built Board-as-a-Service: to give founders access to that same kind of strategic clarity and emotional detachment, especially during those messy middle moments when you need it most.

But whether you work with us or find support elsewhere, here's what matters: Next time you're faced with a tough call, ask yourself: If I had a trusted board sitting across the table—people I strategically chose for their expertise and perspective—how would they see this decision?

That simple shift can turn a stressful moment into a strategic one. It can help you find the detachment that transforms obstacles into data points.

Because in the end, entrepreneurship isn't about avoiding discomfort. It's about showing up with the right lens—and the right support—so you can stay in the game long enough to win.

Speak soon,
Vivian

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