Today’s guest is Johnny Chen, founder, and CEO of Sail.  Sail is a coaching community that empowers men to be more vulnerable.  The focus of their platform is the “Peloton of the mind” specifically for men.

Dr. Adam Gazzaley, founder of Akili Interactive joins us to talk about the intersection of molecular and experiential treatments for mental health conditions. Akili is the maker of the first ever video game to be approved by the FDA as a digital therapeutic treatment for a clinical condition. We talked about how Adam and his team figured out how to use video games in this manner, how they got approval to do so and the science that proves a video game can help improve cognitive function.

Jessica recently published a book called “Wired This Way” on finding mental, emotional, physical and spiritual well-being as an entrepreneur.  The book has been called “the essential user’s manual for the entrepreneurial spirit.”   I got so much out of this conversation personally, and I am truly humbled and honored that we get to share it with you.  I hope you will get as much out of it as I did.

Charlie Hartwell and his wife, Maureen Pelton, MSSW, join us this week to talk about their experiences in the mental health space. 

This is our first installment of the mental health founder spotlight.  In this segment you will hear from a handful of mental health startup founders. Each of these entrepreneurs has been given 3 minutes, uninterrupted, un-edited, to tell their story.  They will explain why they are working in this space, what are they building, and how far along are they.

Today’s guest is Richard Skaife.  Richard is Founder of the Conscious Fund which invests in early stage startups pioneering plant powered medicine with a focus on psychedelics.  To date, they have invested in startups such as ATAI Life Sciences, Bexson Biomedical, Cybin, Gilgamesh, Hive, Microdose, Numinus and more.

Mental Health Market Update: 8/5/2020 – Teladoc Acquisition of Livongo

How we breathe can have a profound impact on our mental health and wellness.  Humans are one of only a few species that can proactively manipulate our breathing patterns and those patterns are associated with various emotional states of being.  In today’s episode we learn about the physiological and psychological impacts of breathing. Learn more in this episode.

Today’s guest is Nicki Tessler (Psy.D, MBA) is the Divisional Vice President for Behavioral Health at Universal Health Services (UHS) where she provides senior-level leadership for multiple hospitals across multiple stages for UHS. She joins us to talk about innovation in the behavioral health space and how UHS is leading the way with their “Innovation Hub” that supports behavioral health entrepreneurship.

Martin Schappell spent 15 years as a leader at Universal Health Services (the largest inpatient psychiatric hospital operator in the United States) as a Senior Vice President in the Behavioral segment. He joins us to talk about the behavioral health care industry, how care has evolved over the last 30 years, and the impacts of our current climate on the mental health of the seniors in our population.

With 2nd Quarter 2020 earnings announcements just around the corner, I thought it would make sense to take stock of where our disruptive healthcare peers are trading, how they have performed so far this year and what to expect and watch out for as their release earnings in the coming weeks.

Eric Dresdale joins me to talk about building startups in the mental health and addiction space.  Eric was one of the earliest entrepreneurs to build a startup in this space called “Next Step” which he sold to True Link Financial back in 2016.

In today’s market update, we dig into Teladoc's primary business units, its growth, valuation, M&A history, growth prospects and what we in the behavioral health startup ecosystem can learn from digging into the numbers around Teladoc.

Mental Health Market Update: 6/19/2020 – Universal Health Services Overview – Universal Health Services (Ticker: UHS) is the largest inpatient psychiatric hospital operator in the United States. 

How can we use technology to stop suicide?  How can we leverage technology to encourage vulnerability and connectivity to help people deal with difficult times?  We dig in to these ideas today with Be A Looper Founder and CEO, Amanda Johnstone. 

Mental Health Market Update: 6/12/2020 – Acadia Healthcare Overview – One of the largest providers of behavioral healthcare services in the world reports some of the best data on demand, market dynamics, payment trends, and other macro insights that can be extremely insightful for startups building within the mental health space.

Jay is a licensed mental health counselor, ordained minister, author, and speaker on the subject – his research revolutionized my view of this topic. His research shows a strong tie between past experiences, and sexual behavior and what we can learn from that connection.

VC, Steve Schlafman is a friend, mentor, a sponsor of sorts to me, and a very experienced Venture Capitalist who also has 5-years of sobriety under his belt as of today, June 5th, 2020.

Kevin Dedner is co-founder and CEO of Henry Health. Henry Health is a digital community that provides self-care support and culturally sensitive teletherapy.  Henry Health's initial target audience is black men who have the lowest life expectancy of any population. In fact, the stated goal of Henry Health is to increase the life expectancy of black men by ten years within the next twenty-five years. 

Jesse Stern, founder of KoreVoices joins us today. KoreVoices is a community of over 200,000 people overcoming mental health issues by sharing stories and offering support. The mission of KoreVoices is to build a movement that allows people to find solutions to their mental health issues, while also helping others. Here at the Stigma Podcast we feel their mission aligns very closely with ours!

Who is Investing in Mental Health Startups? Investors have placed over $850mm into mental health startups in the first 5 months of 2020. This far outpaces 2019 mental health startup funding for the entire year.

Jason Finucan and I both live with type-1 bipolar disorder. We have had vastly different experiences with the illness. In this episode, we explore what this disease looks like, how it manifested itself in our own lives and how we got better. We challenge the public perception of bipolar disorder and how the media portrays it. One of the key takeaways from this conversation is how differently two people can experience the same mental illness.

Mindstrong Health, a leading mental health startup, announced a series-C investment of $100mm via press release dated yesterday, Thursday 5/21/2020. This funding round included capital from What If Ventures, General Catalyst, Bezos Expeditions, Foresight, ARCH, 8VC, and others.

“I launched a Company While Serving Time for Coke Smuggling” – Emily O’Brien

Arielle Dyment is an influencer in the recovery community, and a highly sought-after sober coach.  She joins us to talk about addiction, getting sober, and how she’s helping people who are falling through the cracks of the existing recovery solutions in the market.