The party was still going when he slipped out the back door.

It was the sort of tech mixer where the clinking of wine glasses and investor small talk filled the air with possibility, another night on the endless carousel of optimism. But for Adrian Tan, co-founder of a once-promising Southeast Asian fintech startup, the music had stopped long ago. Standing alone in a side alley behind the Jakarta rooftop bar, he stared at his phone, wondering how he’d gotten to the point where the idea of another funding round made his stomach churn.

He hadn’t told his team. He hadn’t told his investors. But inside, he knew: he was done.

In a region where founders are expected to embody tireless grit and unshakable ambition, Tan’s quiet unravelling is no longer as rare as it once was. Across Southeast Asia, a new generation of startup leaders is beginning to question the emotional cost of hustle culture, and for some, choosing to step back entirely, if only in private.

The cost of the hustle

The COVID-19 pandemic cracked open something long buried in Southeast Asia’s startup psyche. Years of economic volatility, extended lockdowns, and the erasure of work-life boundaries created a crucible for burnout. In recent interviews across Jakarta, Ho Chi Minh City, Manila, and Bangkok, a pattern emerged: the glorification of burnout is fading.

One Thai edutech founder, speaking anonymously, said she began therapy after breaking down in tears before investor calls. “I felt like I was acting out a version of myself that I couldn’t stand anymore,” she shared. “There’s this pressure to always be ‘on,’ but I was disintegrating.”

A 27-year-old SaaS entrepreneur from the Philippines recalled how he quietly shuttered his startup, not due to market failure, but because his panic attacks had become unmanageable. “No one tells you that chasing Series A can feel like running with a knife pressed against your chest,” he said.

Regional data mirrors these stories. A 2024 study by Milieu Insight and Calm Collective Asia found that 81% of Singaporeans and 78% of Filipinos describe life in their countries as stressful. Yet, most delay seeking help until they reach a breaking point. And in a Safe Space SG report surveying over 150 startup founders, many cited burnout, chronic stress, and loneliness as endemic to the startup journey.

Also Read: How burnout changes founder’s ability for risk-taking

Therapy, taboo, and the new playbook

In much of Southeast Asia, therapy is still tangled in stigma, seen either as indulgent or a sign of failure. In Vietnam, one founder said he attends therapy sessions secretly, often from a parked car, so that staff or co-founders won’t notice.

Yet small but significant signs of change are emerging. Incubators in Singapore and Indonesia are beginning to offer founder coaching and wellness check-ins. Some venture capital firms are quietly subsidising therapy for portfolio founders. In Phnom Penh, a low-key Wednesday night circle at a co-working space now offers founders a safe place to talk and decompress.

“We realised founders were breaking, not because they weren’t resilient, but because the system was,” said Dr. Elisa Tan, a Singapore-based psychologist who advises early-stage teams on emotional sustainability. “We had to shift from just scaling companies to also helping humans endure the journey.”

Stepping back, moving forward

Despite the growing visibility of burnout, one thing remains conspicuously rare: founders in Southeast Asia publicly stepping down from leadership, citing mental health. After an extensive search across English and local-language media in Thailand, Vietnam, and Indonesia, no clear, publicly documented example of such a resignation could be found.

Several high-profile founders in the region have exited or transitioned from their roles, such as Tokopedia’s William Tanuwijaya moving into a board-focused position, but these shifts have not been explicitly linked to mental health.

That absence is telling. The stigma surrounding mental health disclosures remains deeply entrenched. Public vulnerability, especially among leaders, is still a cultural tightrope.

But there are exceptions pushing the conversation forward.

Also Read: Singaporeans are wary of trusting AI with financial or mental health advice: Report

Singaporean founder Theodoric Chew, who co-founded the digital mental health startup Intellect, has been refreshingly open about his personal struggles with anxiety and his early experiences in therapy. Though he hasn’t stepped away from his company, his story signals a new generation of founders integrating mental wellness into both personal and business narratives.

“I used to feel like I had to prove I could do it all without breaking,” one Indonesian founder shared anonymously. “Now, I realise resilience also means knowing when to pause.”

A cultural shift in slow motion

There’s no roadmap yet for how startup culture in Southeast Asia will evolve to prioritise emotional well-being. But the shift is underway.

Support groups are forming. Wellness is entering investor conversations. Anonymous founder forums are surfacing vulnerable, unfiltered truths. And even though no one has yet written the definitive LinkedIn post announcing, “I stepped down to save my mental health,” many are thinking it. Some are quietly doing it.

As one founder put it: “We still whisper about therapy. But at least now, we’re whispering to each other.”

And sometimes, the most radical act in a founder’s journey isn’t launching, scaling, or pivoting, but stepping back, even just for a while, and saying: this doesn’t have to break me.

—

Are you ready to join a vibrant community of entrepreneurs and industry experts? Do you have insights, experiences, and knowledge to share?

Join the e27 Contributor Programme and become a valuable voice in our ecosystem.

Image courtesy: Canva

The post The hustle’s toll: Why some of Southeast Asia’s brightest founders are stepping back appeared first on e27.