Why Founders Make Terrible Fathers (And How to Fix It)

Are your kids paying the cost of your success?

So many founders are absent fathers.

The very thing that makes you a kickass entrepreneur has made you a shit dad. You work your ass off. Pouring your energy into business with single-minded determination. Leaving your kids only the scraps.

Even when you’re home, you’re not really there.

The phone rings at 6pm, right as little Timmy beams up at you, eager to show off his latest Lego masterpiece. You answer it. “Just a minute, buddy.” Just a minute turns into 20. By the time you hang up, the moment’s gone.

Now you’re left explaining why some faceless voice on the other end of the line mattered more than your own kid.

You’ve become so focused on building an invincible business that you’ve become an invisible dad.

When building a business costs you your family

Neglecting your kids will break you.

In 2023, a client of mine who founded an energy startup stayed behind while his family moved overseas.

His wife won a scholarship to pursue her PhD in the US, but he remained in New Zealand to keep his company on track. His…