of founders show signs of mental health strain
Source: Foundology Founder Mental Health & Performance Snapshot, 2024501(c)(3) nonprofit
A warm place for founders to rest and reconnect.
Curated retreats for founders and entrepreneurs to disconnect from pressure, reflect honestly, and feel supported.
Disconnect
Reset
Reconnect
Why “ondol”
Warmth is shared.
In Korea, people naturally gather around the warmest part of the ondol floor during cold days. ondol Initiative is inspired by that idea — creating a warm and trusted space where founders can slow down, rest, and realize they are not carrying everything alone.
Why This Matters
Founder mental health is becoming impossible to ignore.
Behind the pressure to lead, build, and grow, many founders experience stress, loneliness, burnout, and emotional exhaustion.
of founders report loneliness
Source: Foundology Founder Mental Health & Performance Snapshot, 2024of founders experienced burnout in the past 12 months
Source: Sifted, 2025higher anxiety levels than the national average
Source: Foundology / UCL School of Management, 2024more likely to experience depression compared with the general population
Source: Entrepreneurship and mental health researchFounders should not have to carry everything alone.
The Problem
Founders carry more than they show.
Constant pressure to perform
Founders are often expected to appear confident for investors, teams, customers, and partners.
Isolation behind leadership
The higher the responsibility, the harder it can be to speak honestly.
No space for honest conversation
Most founder environments focus on performance, not restoration.
The Retreat
The ondol Retreat Experience
A carefully designed 2-day immersive retreat, small enough to feel intimate and structured enough to feel safe.
2-day immersive retreat
10-12 curated founders
No phones or laptops
No pitching or lectures
What Founders Leave With
Clarity
Emotional relief
Genuine peer connection
Renewed energy
Team
The people behind ondol
Meet the founding team shaping ondol with care, trust, and a shared commitment to founder wellbeing.
SJ
Sinyoung Jeong, PhD, MBA
President
LinkedIn
HS
Hojun Suk, PhD
Vice President
LinkedIn
YC
Yujin Chun
Public Relations / Sponsorship Director
LinkedIn
JC
Jaemyung Choi
Advisor
Organizing Committee
Join the ondol Initiative Organizing Committee (OC)!
We are actively recruiting new members. If you are interested in joining us, please reach out to admin@ondolinit.org.
Photos
A glimpse of the retreat atmosphere
Warm rooms, quiet conversation, and enough space to breathe without needing to perform.
Join our next retreat cohort
A place for honest conversations and real connection.
Start with a short, low-pressure application so we can understand who you are and whether this retreat is a good fit.
Join the CohortThank you for reaching out.
We received your inquiry and appreciate your interest in ondol. We will follow up as soon as we can.