Mental Health in PropTech
I remember being in my twenties and how I glorified people working at startups.
It seemed like so much fun to be struggling toward a common goal with a group of like-minded coworkers.
As I have gotten more experience, I’ve come to appreciate the reality can be quite different.
Sure, there is something wonderful about building something from nothing. There’s an unmatchable camaraderie among those of us trying to change an industry (and a planet).
But there is also a cost.
Everyone wants the CEO’s private jet. No one wants to fire dozens of their friends.
We all want to ring the bell at NASDAQ. None of us want to pull all-nighters wondering how we’ll make payroll.
The hard truth is - entrepreneurship is often lonely.
It can feel like no one understands what it’s like to have this weight on your shoulders. All the employees, investors, and customers are looking to you for the flawless, speedy performance of your company and product.
It’s really no wonder that many founders and innovators suffer burnout, depression, or constant anxiety.
It’s a problem. And we want to do something about it.
At FIRE, one of our core beliefs is that we exist to promote the health of the PropTech ecosystem. To do that, we need healthy people running our startups and innovation teams.
That means our innovators need help with mental health.
So we at the foundation have started a program to help with the mental health of our innovators. We have pre-paid for mental health hours from a few licensed therapists and mental health coaches. As of this writing we have prepaid hours from Laura Shook Guzman in Austin, Dr. Chandler Chang in Los Angeles, and Dr. Matthew Jones in Denver. We negotiated discounted prices for each of these practitioners. So you are welcome to go to them directly . . . but you’ll pay for it.
Laura and Chandler specialize in mental health for tech founders and innovators. Matthew is specialist in cofounder conflict (i.e. couples therapy for cofounders).
If you are struggling and want someone to talk to, you can sign up for one of these providers on our website here. Just click “Get Mental Health Help” on the left.
Anonymity
I’m aware that there is a stigma around mental health in certain circles. Men in particular seem to think that seeking mental health is a sign of weakness.
Nonsense.
Train, care for, and rest your mind the same way you would for your body as an athlete. It’s your tool at your job and it needs to be healthy.
Afraid to let your employees or coworkers know you are struggling? Afraid your investors will get spooked if they know how stressed you are?
Fair enough.
We set up or program for ALMOST complete anonymity. When you sign up through us, we don’t keep your name or the name of your company. We need some basic info (i.e. female founders on the East Coast) that the therapists will share with us so we can create more custom programs in the future. For example, if we find out that 90% of our users are female founders in New York, we might pay for some group sessions or breathing exercises for the local PropTech scene in NY.
So rest assured that none of your investors or employees will know this is happening . . . unless you want them to know.
All we collect is basic demographic and geographic information so we can update our offerings in the future.
Next Steps + Cost
Since we don’t know how many people will use this service, we just prepaid for a few hours but plan on keeping this going for years. While we can’t pay for the mental health hours of all the people in PropTech, we do think we can serve as an entry point to mental health for founders and innovators who otherwise wouldn’t or couldn’t start.
If you get started with this and see the value, I hope you decide to pay for it yourself. If you can’t afford it, let the therapist know (so you can remain anonymous to us and they can tell us how many more hours we need to pay for).
Your investors might even be willing to throw in some funds to keep you healthy. Never hurts to ask.
Resources
If you want to do your own thing, here are a few resources that may be helpful:
If you want to find someone outside of our pre-approved therapists, try Pilea (my favorite) or TwoChairs. Or you can go even broader with BetterHelp and TalkSpace.
24/7 “listeners” at 7 Cups.
Self-Guided Anxiety CBT by Therapy Lab.
Want to focus on breathing or meditation, try Calm and HeadSpace.
Bottom Line
If you are reading this and are struggling with loneliness, anxiety, depression, or any other mental health issue, I just want you to know that you are NOT alone and we want to help.
You are NOT simply an ARR-making machine for your investors. You are not just a means to some technology end.
You are a human who deserves to take time to take care of yourself or you won’t be able to take care of anyone or anything else.
One way or another, get the help you need and everyone around you will be better for it.
If you are thinking of hurting yourself or others, please call 988 on your phone right now. You can also text HOME to 741741.
If you feel out of options and don’t like any of the above, call me.
Stay healthy guys.
- Matt
p.s. If you are an investor or supporter of PropTech innovators and would like to support this mental health program, you can donate to the foundation here. We’ll keep improving and updating this program and would love to have more partners as donors to help guide us!
Disclaimer – Neither FIRE nor any of its employees, volunteers, directors, or representatives are mental health experts or licensed practitioners. The information provided cannot replace or substitute the advice or counsel of trained professionals in this field, and we make no representations or warranties concerning information or recommendations provided to you. Please do your own diligence on the best mental health solution for you. FIRE provides information and referrals for your convenience only and does not perform background checks or confirm credentials for any referral provided. Neither FIRE nor any of its employees, partners, affiliates will be liable to you for any damages that may result from your use of the information provided.