In an article in the Washington Business Journal, Philippe Chetrit speaks candidly about the factors that caused Tixelated to shut its doors.

“What we ran out of first, before ideas, before money, before time, was steam,” [Chetrit] writes. “We spent two years tirelessly working, putting all our time, faith and resources into Tixelated. And what we were getting in return was stress, worry, and emotional haywire.”

This is not a case, as ego risk often is, of cognitive biases tripping up the founding team, but a simple reality that starting a company is hard and our own psychological wellbeing sometimes takes priority over the success of the business. It’s rare to see such open and honest evaluation of the emotional challenges leading to the decision to shut down a business. Kudos, Philippe for being a leader in the conversation on ego risk. We look forward to watching what you do next.