My Ego Nearly Killed My Startup | James Roycroft-Davis
scale with soul9 Aug 2025

My Ego Nearly Killed My Startup | James Roycroft-Davis

Most founders won't talk about this…

But the line between grandiose confidence and dangerous delusion is thinner than you think.

James Roycroft-Davis stood on Putney Bridge, hearing voices telling him to jump, before discovering his bipolar diagnosis would become his greatest teacher.

This is the unfiltered story of how ego, untreated mental health, and founder identity nearly destroyed everything - and how radical self-awareness rebuilt it all.

💡 What you'll learn in this episode:

▪️ How to spot the early warning signs of ego-driven decision making that destroy startups

▪️ Why bipolar disorder can be both a founder's greatest asset and deadliest trap

▪️ Why most founder therapy misses the mark - and what actually works

▪️ How becoming a father rewired his entire relationship with success and identity

▪️ A framework for making decisions based on who you want to be, not who you think others expect

▪️ The difference between £100M ego goals and £500K happiness goals (and why one nearly killed him)

📖 Chapters

00:00 - Intro

01:19 - The Bridge Call That Changed Everything

07:28 - 20 Years of Trauma Exploding at Once

09:07 - The Guilt of Surviving

11:12 - Nature vs Nurture in Mental Health

12:19 - When Granddad's Death Flipped the Switch

15:31 - The Israeli Psychologist Who Gets Startups

18:10 - "Most Founders Do Have Grandiose Sense"

25:49 - Type 1 vs Type 2: Why It Matters

28:58 - The £500/Hour Diagnosis Story

34:13 - Ego Work: From Validation to Creation

38:20 - Why "Founder" Identity Makes You Unemployable

42:21 - Two Job Offers, One Ego Check

44:51 - Old James vs New James

46:58 - The Exit Community Vulnerability

49:02 - Alex McDonald's Life-Changing Advice

50:48 - Happy and Comfortable vs £100M Dreams

58:32 - The CBT Technique That Rewires Your Brain

01:02:15 - Dual Purposes: Father and Founder

01:06:26 - Final Asks: Jobs, Dad Groups, and Baseline

🍿 WATCH NEXT

If you liked this conversation, you'll love this one too:

Shazam Founder Interview; Secrets of Luck, Persistence & Success (Ep. 1)

👉 Subscribe for weekly interviews and deeply practical videos on how to scale with soul

📧 Get exclusive insights, timeless frameworks & founder tools in my newsletter

🔗 Guest Links & Resources

James Roycroft-Davis : LinkedIn

🔗 Affiliate Link

Visit Monk Ice Baths - for £100 discount

Episoder(56)

No.1 Neuroscientist: The Problems With Goals (& What To Do Instead)

No.1 Neuroscientist: The Problems With Goals (& What To Do Instead)

No.1 Neuroscientist Anne-Laure Le Cunff shares the theory behind her book Tiny Experiments, which includes the problems with goals as we know them today. She is an entrepreneur, whose first startup fa...

16 Des 20251h 13min

Ex-COO of Monzo: What Collapses When You Scale Too Fast

Ex-COO of Monzo: What Collapses When You Scale Too Fast

Cherrypick Discount Code: https://alpha.lollipopai.com/codes/soul50Tom Foster Carter is the Ex-COO of Monzo and a serial entrepreneur. He joined Monzo as COO at Series A and helped them scale to becom...

11 Des 20251h 26min

The Psychology Of Meaningful Marketing - Maya Moufarek

The Psychology Of Meaningful Marketing - Maya Moufarek

Maya Moufarek is a Full Stack meaningful marketing expert, with decades of experience from companies like Google, Amex, Not On The High Street, and then the company she was the founding CMO of, Pharma...

19 Nov 20251h 23min

£100m CEO Superpowers & Shadow Sides | Aron Gelbard, Bloom & Wild

£100m CEO Superpowers & Shadow Sides | Aron Gelbard, Bloom & Wild

Aron Gelbard is the CEO of the £100m revenue startup, Bloom & Wild, a flower delivery company operating across Europe. In this interview he shares his work styles and shadows as a entrepreneur and a l...

17 Nov 20251h 26min

Find Calm In The Startup Chaos - Karolina Pelc, BeyondPlay

Find Calm In The Startup Chaos - Karolina Pelc, BeyondPlay

Karolina Pelc is the author of HerPlay, and the Founder and ex-CEO of the startup BeyondPlay, which was acquired by FanDuel. She has been through the startup storm and has come out the other side with...

13 Nov 20251h 35min

Nick Jenkins - The Marketing Secrets Behind The $Billion Business, Moonpig

Nick Jenkins - The Marketing Secrets Behind The $Billion Business, Moonpig

Moonpig is valued at over a $Billion and the founder, Nick Jenkins, reveals all his marketing and business secrets in this rich and insightful interview!Nick is a marketing wizard and here he delivers...

11 Nov 20251h 20min

Public Company CEO on Trauma, Trust & Leadership Identity | Devika Wood

Public Company CEO on Trauma, Trust & Leadership Identity | Devika Wood

Devika Wood is the CEO of the public company Brain+, who are leaders in improving dementia care. She is also one of the most honest and vulnerable founders I have ever interviewed. In this interview s...

7 Nov 20251h 36min

50 Founder Interviews. £100k Spent. 15 Hard Lessons. 1 Hour

50 Founder Interviews. £100k Spent. 15 Hard Lessons. 1 Hour

A 15-lesson reflection on £100k spent, 18 months, over 50 interviews with some world class entrepreneurs. This is a very open and honest look under the hood into what it takes to create a podcast busi...

6 Nov 20251h

Populært innen Business og økonomi

stopp-verden
lydartikler-fra-aftenposten
dine-penger-pengeradet
e24-podden
rss-penger-polser-og-politikk
rss-borsmorgen-okonominyhetene
rss-pa-konto
pengesnakk
pengepodden-2
utbytte
finansredaksjonen
morgenkaffen-med-finansavisen
liberal-halvtime
livet-pa-veien-med-jan-erik-larssen
tid-er-penger-en-podcast-med-peter-warren
stormkast-med-valebrokk-stordalen
rss-sunn-okonomi
rss-skravla-gar
rss-markedspuls-2
lederpodden