Founder Mental Health Pledge

For my 39th birthday, I want to break the mental health stigma by sharing publicly for the first time that I live with bipolar disorder type 2. youtu.be/zjAAA1EeOS4?si=3UEd… #breakthestigma #mentalhealth

The riskiest stage for a startup is before they have Product Market Fit (PMF). This is when the founder matters the most. Once a startup has PMF, its easier to run the playbook to have the company scale (through external advice/hires/resources/etc).

Happy to announce two Europe Ambassadors for Founder Mental Health Pledge (@Founder_Pledge). Welcome @marcohouwen and @gaia_vacheva! Very much looking forward to collaborating with you both.

Just updated the Founder Mental Health Pledge (@Founder_Pledge) with the latest pledge takers. Some really amazing organizations have recently taken the pledge, including (but not limited to): @activatefellows - A home for entrepreneurial scientists and engineers tackling the world's biggest challenges. @AllRaise - On a mission to accelerate the success of female founders and funders to build a more prosperous, equitable future @EmbarcCollectiv - Helping Tampa Bay’s startup talent build bold, scalable, thriving companies. @OpCo_VC - Venture fund and dream team community of operator LPs, bringing together 200+ of tech’s most exceptional executives from diverse backgrounds to invest in and supercharge the next generation of enterprise tech. @getraise - Simplifying the fundraising process for founders and their investors in Africa. Welcome and thank you for joining the movement to destigmatize founder mental health and treat it as a business imperative! Join them as an organization or individual in signing the pledge: FounderPledge.com.

I'm excited the welcome the first Higher Education Entrepreneurship Program to sign the Founder Mental Health Pledge (@Founder_Pledge)! Thank you @imperialcollege and @ICEnterpriseLab for joining the movement to destigmatize founder mental health at the earliest stages as you mentor students to venture on their own startup journeys!

Excited to announce the first three Ambassadors for the Founder Mental Health Pledge (@Founder_Pledge)! @danielariwarner - Ambassador for Canada @ZinaMEUS - Ambassador for Middle East @CReltien - Ambassador for University/College Entrepreneurship Programs Welcome to the team! Looking forward to collaborating with you all to accelerate the destigmatization of founder mental health and spread the word within your areas of focus and influence. Interested in being an Ambassador? Please DM me.

Excited to announce the amazing core team that is working hard on the 2023 Founder Mental Health Index Report — an official initiative of the Founder Mental Health Pledge (@Founder_Pledge): Thank you to Alex Auerbach (@AlexAuerbachPhD), Adrienne Heinz, PhD (@adrienneheinz), Brad Baum (@BradleyBaum), Claude Woodruff (@alan_woodruff), Kiley Giebel (@Kileygiebel), Naveed Lalani (@naveed_l), and Ute Stephan! We are looking forward to surveying 1000+ startup founders on interventions, stressors, opportunities, gaps, costs, business impact, and more. This will be the definitive annual report on founder mental health. We will also produce actionable next steps for the industry to take to affect founder mental health in a positive positive direction. The report will be released in early August, ahead of the August 17th virtual Founder Mental Health Conference (Fill out the early interest form to stay update: Conference.FounderPledge.com). More to come!

A proactive approach to mental fitness is key to sustainably driving from the founder's seat. Everyone in the startup ecosystem needs to make a plan to take care of all aspects of their wellness - mental, physical, emotional, and relational - with the same intention and discipline applied to the ventures themselves. That's why Founder Mental Health Pledge (@Founder_Pledge) and Pioneer Mind (@PioneerMindInc) are partnering with Further Faster Ventures and Katy Hanlon of Sprinkle Cheer to offer a complimentary meditation practice next Thursday 4/27 at 11AM-12PM CT. We will ground, open and arrive in the present moment through mindfulness practices, meditation and breathing exercises. Take a moment out of your busy workday to focus on self-connection. Sign up here: bit.ly/FounderWellness427

Honored to be able to provide input for the Startup Snapshot which was created by Yael Benjamin (@yaelibenjamin) in partnership with Tzahi (Zack) Weisfeld (@zackw) and others. "The Untold Toll: The Impact of Stress on the Well-Being of Founders" Download the full report at startup-snapshot.com/.

Founder Mental Health Pledge (@Founder_Pledge) is excited to collaborate with Daniel Warner on Founders Assemble on April 25-26 to be held virtually. All founders who have signed the Founder Mental Health Pledge can access a complimentary pass to Founders Assemble - Founder Health Summit by using code FOUNDERPLEDGE at FoundersAssemble.com.