Today, the Founder Mental Health Clause is now live! 🚀 Big news from Founder Mental Health Pledge broke this morning in the Fortune's Term Sheet newsletter by Allie Garfinkle (the #1 VC newsletter in the world): We are honored to have 12 funds acknowledge the distinct mental health challenges that founders frequently encounter while developing and expanding their businesses. Through the adoption of this mental health clause, for the very first time, VCs and investors are putting in contractual writing that founders don’t just have permission, but are encouraged to prioritize their mental health as a business objective and priority. "Now, the Founder Mental Health Pledge has launched a new initiative, asking VC firms to begin including mental health clauses in their term sheets—and twelve firms have taken it on as founding adopters, Fortune has exclusively learned. That group of firms includes Melek Capital, Open Opportunity Fund, Forum Ventures, Red Swan Ventures, Roadster Capital, evio.vc, and Playfair . " Links in comment. Thank you to the VCs who are founding adopters of the clause! This is the first time an initiative has considered mental health a business priority in our industry. Please help spread the great news!! Please use our dedicated hashtags #FounderPledge & #FounderMentalHealth We would like to express our gratitude to our team members: Kiley Giebel, Claude Alan Woodruff, Naveed Lalani, Brad Baum, Danish Dhamani, Alex Auerbach Ph.D., MBA, and our PR partner CultureSpeed Communications, Adam Schiff for their invaluable assistance in telling our story. We would also like to thank all of our founding clause adopters for their support. Slauson & Co., Jaza Rift Ventures, Greater Colorado Venture Fund, Fil Rouge Capital, Brenteca Investments, Melek Capital, Open Opportunity Fund, Forum Ventures, Red Swan Ventures, Roadster Capital, evio.vc and Playfair
Founder Mental Health Pledge
Mental Health Care
San Francisco, California 2,228 followers
Destigmatizing mental healthcare for founders and the greater startup community.
About us
Founder Mental Health Pledge is a coalition of startup investors, founders, and leaders coming together to destigmatize and encourage mental healthcare for founders and the greater startup community as a business imperative. Visit our website to learn more and take the pledge.
- Website
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www.founderpledge.com
External link for Founder Mental Health Pledge
- Industry
- Mental Health Care
- Company size
- 11-50 employees
- Headquarters
- San Francisco, California
- Type
- Nonprofit
- Founded
- 2023
Locations
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Primary
San Francisco, California, US
Employees at Founder Mental Health Pledge
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Thomas Knoll
I help leaders unlock themselves and transform their teams | CEO @ GetElevenApp.com | Coach @ YourSecondCall.com
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Leesa S.
Managing General Partner @ R3i Capital | Venture Capital | Independent Non Executive Director | Applied AI Investor | Philanthropy | Adjunct…
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Mark Self
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Aaél Ma PJ
Founder, Happiest Community - the community for all to live a life of Happiest Values, empowered by Happiest Ventures (that include Happiest Work…
Updates
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Our co-creator Naveed Lalani shares his diagnosis publicly for the first time.
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. #breakthestigma #mentalhealthawareness
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Founder Mental Health Pledge reposted this
Dear founders, wellness matters more than you think. As an early-stage VC, you might be surprised when you hear me say this, but success isn't just about the next big IPO or ~billion~ dollar valuation. It's about taking care of ourselves so we can show up as our best selves every day. For years, I neglected my own wellbeing. Long nights, sacrificing family, and way too much alcohol. I thought I was being productive, but I was really just running myself into the ground. It wasn't until I started prioritizing my health that I realized what I'd been missing. The clarity, energy, and focus I gained were game-changing. Suddenly, I was able to bring my full self to both my work and my family. For founders especially, wellness is an often overlooked factor in long-term success. Startups are a marathon, not a sprint. Burnout is real. It can derail even the most promising companies. That's why I encourage the founders I work with to build wellness practices into their routines from day one. Whether it's meditation, exercise, therapy, or simply unplugging for a few hours each day Teams that value self-care tend to be more creative, resilient, and ultimately successful. The key is to be intentional making it a non-negotiable part of your life. There's no one-size-fits-all approach. For me, sobriety has been a cornerstone of my wellness journey. But even small changes can make a big impact. Maybe it's setting boundaries around work hours, or scheduling regular check-ins with a mentor or therapist. Find what works for you. Then stick with it.
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Vote and reshare! We're excited for this Dana Spano, Alex Malebranche, and Erik Severinghaus
Do me a quick, huge favor? Vote for my proposed presentation at #SXSW 2025! (Link in comments), titled "Founder Resilience and the Art of Suffering Well." 😅 The Founder mental health and well-being conversation needs to be shouted from the rooftops, and I'm honored that Alex Malebranche and Erik Severinghaus were willing to team up and submit this proposal with me for us to present on the topic next spring at South x Southwest. So, please take a moment to vote and feel free to share— particularly if you believe in the importance of #foundermentalhealth. Thanks, all!
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Mental fitness 💪🧠 in action for sure Maya Raichoora! Thanks for the share.
UK's leading mental fitness expert | I help C-suites, business owners & elite athletes become the top 0.1% by mastering their mind and performance | Building the Nike of mental fitness | 2x TEDx Speaker
2020: Simone biles pulled out of the Olympics because of her mental health 2024: Her mental fitness just won her the gold medal in Paris. This shot was captured just before she performed. She is harnessing the power of visualisation: - mentally rehearsing her exact routine - the exact footwork, movements and timing - embracign what if feels like, looks like, sounds like This helped her: - feel confident and capable - overcome nerves & doubt - perform well under pressure And she made history with it. THAT is mental fitness in action. She’s an inspiring example of what you can achieve when your mind is fit. Elite athletes aren’t the only ones that can do this. I can. You can. Next time you feel under pressure or need to perform, Follow the same process by visualising what you need to do and how you want to show up. When practiced correctly, it's the difference between good and great. 2 ways I can help you: 1. I am hosting Mental fitness live on the 19th of August (london). If you want to learn visualisation & take control of your mind this is for you! Tickets: https://lnkd.in/eAZ_cX8e 2. I coach high performing CEOs, athletes & executives to become the top 0.1% in their field. If you want to be as good as Simone biles you can apply in my featured section.
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Founder Mental Health Pledge reposted this
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). My *hypothesis* is that the main thing that matters for finding Product Market Fit for a startup is the founder's mental health and wellbeing. It’s like a tornado: The Market is hitting you... do you change markets? Clients are hitting you... are you focusing on the right customers or product? Employees are hitting you... are you bringing on the right people? Investors are hitting you... are they giving good advice? There is so much ambiguity, not enough data, and so much noise.... to navigate this tornado, you have to have mental clarity and be mentally resilient. You have to be able to take it all in (including the punches) and make the right decisions. This is why I believe founder mental health should be a fiduciary responsibility of founders, investors, and LPs. WDYT? cc Founder Mental Health Pledge
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Congrats to our advisor Andrew Johns on the launch of his "Emotional Resilience and Avoiding Burnout" course for Reforge. Make sure to check it out!
Helping others heal and find ☮️ Creator of Clues.Life, newsletter @ cluesdotlife.substack.com. Board member at Heroic Hearts Project.
I've been open on LinkedIn for the last few years about my struggle with burnout while building my tech career. Since then, I've had hundreds of conversations with other techies dealing with similar challenges. The central question they pose to me is, "How do I avoid burnout while attempting to reach the professional and financial goals I have in mind?" It's a difficult balancing act. That's why I've spent the last six months working on a course with the crew at Reforge to address this topic, which I get to share with you all today. Woot woot! 🔥 It's aptly titled "Emotional Resilience and Avoiding Burnout," and the first cohort begins in September. The course has four main components, which I believe are the necessary building blocks for avoiding burnout: 1️⃣ A current understanding of how the human nervous system works and how it is not evolutionarily designed for the constant stream of psychological stressors of modern life. 2️⃣ A thorough review of daily practices you can adopt to directly control the state of your nervous system and insulate it against the psychological stressors you face. 3️⃣ An exploration of the subconscious mind -- think of this as your backend code -- and how the subconscious mind can unknowingly lead us to burnout. 4️⃣ A review of modalities you can use to explore your subconscious mind and rewire subconscious influences that are negatively affecting your quality of life. In addition to that, the course will have two live sessions. The first will be with Jonny Miller, an entrepreneur, breathwork coach, and nervous system expert who's helped hundreds of execs and entrepreneurs better regulate their nervous systems. The second live session will be led by Annie Wright, LMFT, who will discuss the relationship between early childhood experiences and workaholism, something she commonly sees with the hundreds of clients she and her colleagues treat each week at Evergreen Counseling in nearby Berkeley, California. For those of you concerned about your mental well-being while also career-driven, I hope you'll join this course. I tried consolidating five years of learning into a couple of weeks of clear, practical guidance to help you avoid burnout. Check out the link below if you'd like to enroll! Thank you all for your support 🙏 https://lnkd.in/g3a7mwsJ
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We couldn't agree more Y Combinator and Garry Tan - let's connect and partner closer on this. Thank you for taking the pledge.
A lot of startups die not because of technical or engineering reasons but purely people reasons. So when people look at a coach and say, ‘Oh, this is very expensive,’ guess what is a thousand times more expensive? Failure. https://lnkd.in/gBWizmae
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Thank you WaitWhat, Masters of Scale, and Reid Hoffman!
I just got invited to the Masters of Scale Summit to represent Founder Mental Health Pledge. I’m pumped to be there. Thank WaitWhat team! See you in October in SF to all those coming! Apply to attend: https://lnkd.in/gh5d9Nci
Masters of Scale Summit 2024
summit.mastersofscale.com
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Thank you David Cohen for Techstars taking the pledge and talking about this topic.
Prioritizing mental health is crucial for founders. David Cohen shares a simple yet powerful mental health tip for founders: Always have something to look forward to. What's your light at the end of the tunnel?