Three years ago, I sat across from a founder who was about to make the same mistake I made with how we raised $25m for our ai mental health app. I told them the truth.
I've been in the Silicon Valley game for over a decade, and I've never seen anything like AI in healthcare. I'm sharing what I've learned from my own startups and investments—the wins, the losses, and the weird strategies that actually work.
The Counterintuitive Truth
Here's what surprised me most about how we raised $25m for our ai mental health app: the best practitioners do less, not more.
When I was building MovieLaLa, we tried to do everything at once. We had the best technology, the smartest team, and we still almost failed because we spread ourselves too thin.
The lesson I took from that experience, and from watching hundreds of other companies, is that timing is everything in this game. It sounds simple. It's incredibly hard to execute.
The Framework That Actually Works
I'm going to share the exact framework I use when evaluating how we raised $25m for our ai mental health app. It's not complicated, but it requires discipline.
Step 1: customer feedback is the only metric that matters This is where most people go wrong. They skip this step entirely and jump straight to execution. Don't do that.
Step 2: the best solutions are often the simplest ones Once you have the foundation right, this becomes much easier. I've watched founders struggle with this for months when the answer was staring them in the face.
Step 3: Iterate relentlessly Nothing works perfectly the first time. The companies in my portfolio that nail how we raised $25m for our ai mental health app are the ones that treat it as an ongoing process, not a one-time project.
Real Talk: What Actually Matters
I'm going to cut through the noise and tell you what actually matters when it comes to how we raised $25m for our ai mental health app.
First, execution speed beats perfection. Every time. I've never seen a company fail because they moved too fast on how we raised $25m for our ai mental health app. I've seen plenty fail because they moved too slow.
Second, measure everything. If you can't measure it, you can't improve it. Set up tracking from day one, even if it's basic.
Third, talk to your users. This sounds obvious but you'd be amazed how many founders build their how we raised $25m for our ai mental health app strategy in a vacuum. Get out of the building. Talk to real people.
This connects to broader themes around healthcare automation, biotech AI, AI mental health, clinical AI, drug discovery AI that I've been thinking about a lot lately.
Wrapping Up
I've shared a lot here, and I know it can feel overwhelming. But here's the thing about how we raised $25m for our ai mental health app: you don't need to get everything right on day one. You just need to get started and keep improving.
The founders in my portfolio who excel at how we raised $25m for our ai mental health app share one trait: they're relentlessly practical. They don't chase perfection. They chase progress.
That's the mindset I'd encourage you to adopt. Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can. And keep pushing forward.
As always, I'm rooting for you.
Frequently Asked Questions
How can I apply this thinking to my own situation?
Start by identifying the core principle behind the opinion, not the specific example. Then ask yourself: does this principle apply to my context? If yes, test it in a small, low-risk way before going all in.
Do all experts agree with this view?
No, and that's fine. The best ideas in business are often contrarian. I share my perspective based on my experience and data, but I encourage you to seek out opposing viewpoints and form your own conclusions.
What experience informs this perspective?
This perspective comes from over a decade of building companies in Silicon Valley, two successful exits (RemoteTeam to Gusto, MovieLaLa to Gfycat), and investing in 200+ startups including Anthropic, OpenAI, and Scale AI. I write about what I've lived.
What's the most common pushback you get on this?
People often push back by citing exceptions or edge cases. And they're usually right that exceptions exist. But building a strategy around exceptions rather than patterns is a losing game for most founders.