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How Did a Therapist End Up At a Venture Fund?

What entrepreneurs really want when they hire a coach.

Founders and executives at startups operate in demanding, pressure-filled roles. This pressure stems from the immense task of trying to grow as a company while simultaneously trying to grow as a person.

Historically, many founders have felt a need to present a facade in which they have it all together. Founders believe they need to know exactly how to operate as a CEO from day one when in reality, everyone who sits down into the seat must grow into the role. . Over years of working with these individuals as a coach and consultant, I’ve been pleased to see the surrounding culture start to shift.

Within the venture world and throughout US culture, there’s a growing support for vulnerable honesty about the need for personal growth, the importance of self-awareness, and the internal struggles that we all carry. This has also resulted in a more open and comprehensive conversation on mental health in all areas of life. Increasingly, people are opening up about things they have historically kept out of sight. In my work with VC funds and Founders, we see this as a good thing.

In the midst of this evolving culture, I’m often asked about how my work as a therapist supports founders and C-Suite individuals. How did I, a therapist, end up as a Venture Partner at a Venture Fund?

While we do offer coaching and consulting services to support a range of needs, the foundation of our work is built on our training as therapists. And, I believe therapy is closer to what Founders are actually looking for.

Yet a traditionally trained therapist may not be best suited to provide the support Founders and other leaders are looking for. What these individuals are looking for, and actually need, is coaching that is therapeutically informed. They need a coach who has therapy training, and is also able to effectively apply this experience to support them in everything from dealing with their inner world, to working more effectively with the people around them, to helping their team scale and develop.

Here’s an example of what I mean: years ago, I recall sitting across from a stressed out founder. At some point in our coaching conversation, tears came to his eyes as he described all of the forces pressing in on him. He stared at me across the table before asking, “Why am I crying? I have met with a lot of coaches and I don’t cry with them.” The answer was because he needed to. He needed time with someone who could help him slow down and talk about all that he was dealing with as a person. And crucially, he needed it from someone who understood the unique challenges and forces at play in his inner world and in his role.

Years ago, I recall sitting across from a stressed out founder. At some point in our coaching conversation, tears came to his eyes as he described all of the forces pressing in on him. He stared at me across the table before asking, “Why am I crying? I have met with a lot of coaches and I don’t cry with them.” The answer was because he needed to.

Shifting Perspectives on Mental Health & Stress Management

After years of working as a coach and therapist, it’s an exciting time to be doing this work as we collectively witness cultural shifts in key areas.

Conversations that have historically been hidden are now courageously being shared.

People are embracing their personal stories and are starting to consistently choose vulnerability.

You may have seen this in the media: athletes like NBA All-Star Kevin Love and Olympian Michael Phelps are speaking out about their personal struggles despite, and in part due to, their high levels of performance and success.

At the same time, national movements are changing public conversations, and as a culture we have started to have both increased awareness and greater compassion for mental health struggles. We are starting to value mental wellness equally to other areas that we have long prioritized, such as physical strength.

As we look to the future, we see the changing culture even more clearly: our younger generations are leading the charge in accepting and normalizing therapy and mental health support in both personal and professional spheres of life. Young professionals see working with mental health professionals as a sign of strength. Rather than hiding or avoiding work with a therapist, younger professionals proactively include therapy as a crucial part of actively managing their own well-being. The tide is turning and the waves are showing up in Silicon Valley.

But it’s not just the younger generation reaping the benefits of these changing conversations. We see broad, cross-generational evidence of this trend toward embracing the need for personal growth and mental health. Eric Schmidt has been quoted as saying that seeking coaching was the best advice he ever received. Bill Gates and Steve Jobs have utilized coaches. Google has an employee resource course titled “Search Inside Yourself” that focuses on the practice and benefits of meditation. These are simply a few examples of the way that corporate culture is evolving to incorporate coaching and other mental health resources.

Within the entrepreneurial community, the need for therapy and support is not new: it is simply that we are starting to talk about it more openly. Rather than calling therapists “coaches”, describing panic attacks as “stress”, or quietly taking antidepressants and carrying around a general sense of drowning, today’s Founder is more able than ever to be honest about their struggles and proactively seek the support they need to truly excel in the job they are meant to do. This is good news, because masking these issues simply doesn’t work. It is not good for the entrepreneurs or the culture of their companies. And we believe that we have entered an era where this masking is no longer necessary.

My role as a partner at a Venture Fund is to invite entrepreneurs to speak openly about their need for personal growth and mental health, and provide a space where they can speak honestly and receive support.. The benefits of this practice are seen in the health of the Founder and, in turn, the sustainability of the business.

As simple as it might sound, we believe that entrepreneurs are human. And, humans need empathetic support.

As a therapeutically-trained coach working at a Venture Fund, my aim is to help those I work with understand themselves better. While I do utilize stress management techniques as a part of this work, my work is not solely designed to reduce stress. Rather, by gaining a greater knowledge of self, the entrepreneur sets a foundation for sound mental health and utilizes this same foundation to evolve into a more skillful leader and engage more effectively with a team.

The personal demands of being a founder are incredibly high. The task ends up requiring more of entrepreneurs than they ever imagined it would. To succeed as both individuals and founders, they need dedicated, empathetic support to help them along their personal growth curve. Therapeutically informed coaching from a trained professional with experience in the startup world allows entrepreneurs access to the support they need not only to grow as humans, but to evolve into ever more effective leaders.

It makes sense!

When I tell entrepreneurs that I am a therapist, the most common response I get is, “that makes so much sense.”

They often then reply as if given a permission slip to speak openly, perhaps for the first time, about how stressful their job is, how lonely it is, how they try to cope, and how much they’d benefit from a therapist’s support.

They describe how overwhelming it can be to lead a team of people, and that this is a skill they’d perhaps not previously developed. They tell me how unprepared they were for the mental and emotional demands of being a founder.

And they tell stories.

They describe scenarios when their blind spots have gotten them in trouble. They share just how quickly the interpersonal dynamics started to overtake them once they started to scale. And sometimes, they ask questions about things like addiction, anxiety, and depression.

There are coaches and consultants who do therapeutic work. And, there are therapists who do coaching and consulting. I am the latter: that is my preference, and how I work best in support of startup founders and entrepreneurs. A therapist with relevant experience and knowledge of the venture space is uniquely suited to address the needs of entrepreneurs. On one hand, it is about supporting growth. On the other hand, it is about naming our struggles with courage. And uniting the work in a trusted relationship that invites honest reflection.

So, how did this therapist end up at a Venture Firm? I ended up here when we were culturally ready to acknowledge our need for vulnerable honesty, and Founders were ready for support in taking action to support themselves, their teams, and their organizations.

For venture backed companies, there is an intensely high demand for growth. We are finally able to acknowledge that the growth demands are as much about the internal world of the founder as they are about the business. The general sentiment from my clients is that when they take the time to understand themselves, every aspect of their life improves. The impact is invaluable in the way it plays it out in their life and business.

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