401: Emotional startup lessons from Nori cofounders—w/ Alexsandra Guerra of Calming Chaos

About this episode

The episode features a candid conversation with Alexsandra Guerra about emotional challenges faced by startup founders and the lessons learned from their experiences at Nori.

What happens when you ask a startup founder how a decision made them feel and their eyes start to water? What happens when you realize the person who drove you the craziest at your company was right about all the things you dismissed as too woo? What happens when you look at the wreckage of a seven-year startup and realize the business model failed but the mission didn't? Today I'm talking with Alexsandra Guerra, "Alé", one of my former cofounders at Nori. Her voice used to be the intro to this very podcast. She's now a coach for purpose-driven founders through her business Calming Chaos, and we're doing something I've wanted to do for a while: an honest, no-bs conversation about what went wrong between us, what we've learned since, and why the emotional stuff that I used to dismiss is actually what's holding back so much innovation in climate and beyond. Alé shared her story in a way I wasn't expecting. The perfectionism, the imposter syndrome, the hero complex that made her volunteer for work she couldn't sustain, the sensitivity to feedback that followed, the burnout that was inevitable. She traced all of it back to childhood—a father who didn't show up, a mother who told her…

People in this episode

Host: unknown

Guest: Alexsandra Guerra

Topics covered

• startup lessons
• emotional intelligence
• climate innovation
• founder experiences
• personal growth

Keywords

• startup
• emotions
• founders
• Nori
• Calming Chaos
• innovation
• burnout
• imposter syndrome

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Calming Chaos, Nori

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