Although VCs preach choosing people over ideas, once they pick up the founders they very often neglect their mental state later on. And almost 60% of startups fail to some kind of mental-related issues.
During 2019 TechBBQ Copenhagen, we sat down (well, stood, Scandinavian style THB) with Cecilie Willer from TODAY, to talk about the importance of mental health for startups and how can a simple well-being focus translate into a business success.
If you want to learn more about Cecilie’s work find her at:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/cecilie-willer-4346b91/?originalSubdomain=dk
On the importance of mental coaching:
„(…) Around 60% of all startups that fail, fail due to mental reasons: burnout, stress, lack of focus, lack of motivation, conflicts in the founders’ teams. I see this as a huge potential that we have a gap in the ecosystem”.
On broadening access to mental support in startups:
„My quest right now is to get more state coaches in the ecosystem on board, because if we are really to make a change, it’s not only on the founders’ shoulders, we need to de-stigmatise the subject, and put some of the resources from the funding system into this area”
On VC neglecting the mental side:
„VC do a lot due diligence and personality testing, making sure they get on board with right people, but after that, they don’t really do that much. But we can actually grow our minds and absorb more stress. And that is a new area for VCs and startups.