What founders misunderstand about burnout.

What you’ll hear

David Mensah burned out twice building his logistics startup — once as a founder, once as the boss watching his team follow him over the same cliff. The second time taught him the lesson: rest treats the symptom, while recovery schedules treat the cause.

He describes the company-wide rhythm that replaced heroic weekends: protected deep-work mornings, a no-meeting Friday reset, and a rule that nobody owns a problem alone past 6 p.m. Attrition halved within two quarters.

Marcus connects the story to allostatic load — why minor strains pile higher than single shocks — and to the studies showing scheduled micro-recovery beats occasional long breaks.