Founders' Fears & Failures

In this week’s episode I’m sitting down with an investor who has been a founder or co-founder himself multiple times for a candid conversation about the importance of not going it alone as a founder.

We also discuss the traits that he as an investor is often looking for in the founders of startups he’s considering investing in, how he makes space for his mental health and family life despite his demanding job, and the personal story that fuels his passion for supporting innovations in healthcare.

Erik Halvorsen, PhD, is a Partner at pHpartners healthcare investment bank leading up the therapeutics vertical. He has 20 years of experience in the Healthcare & Life Sciences sectors. With a background in neuropharmacology and regenerative medicine, he is passionate about translating cutting edge innovations into new companies & products that help people.

As an entrepreneur, Erik has founded or co-founded several companies including therapeutics, clinical genomics, robotics, diagnostics and AI focused digital health. He also launched and ran early-stage life science investment funds in Boston and Houston.

Prior to pH Partners, Erik was the founding director of the Texas Medical Center Innovation Institute. In four years, Erik grew the TMCx healthcare accelerator to national recognition and launched the TMC Venture Fund.

In addition to his successful career, Erik enjoys traveling with his family, specifically to tropical destinations. He spends lots of time scuba diving on these trips, as well as relaxing on the beach with a good book.

This is a must listen for any founder, or aspiring founder. I hope you enjoy the conversation as much as I didi!

Find Erik online:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/erikhalvorsen1/

Connect with your host, Dr. Melissa Parks, elsewhere:

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/melissacparks/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/melissaparksphd

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/melissaparksphd/

Website: https://melissaparks.com/

Looking for 1:1 coaching as a founder to help you improve your mental fitness and emotional resilience? Set up your free discovery call with Melissa - https://melissaparks.com/free-consultation-call/

If you’d like additional support for your mental and emotional well-being as a founder please visit Melissa’s website for a list of resources to help you find a coach, therapist, or peer support.

TW: mention of suicide in this episode

In this week’s episode we’re going deep. My guest, Janice Fraser, is a Silicon Valley veteran with decades of experience in the startup world. She’s also no stranger to mental health struggles, and in this interview she candidly shares about her own experience managing anxiety, depression, and complex PTSD, including the types of treatment and support that have most helped her along her journey towards healing and becoming a more effective in all of her professional, and personal, roles.

Fraser is an investor, sought-after speaker, and thought leader in emerging management practices to support innovation at scale. A Silicon Valley veteran with extensive knowledge of what works at a company’s ground level, Fraser is particularly committed to championing and extending access to the entrepreneurs who are typically underrepresented in the world of venture- backed startups.

Fraser serves as a Partner for Seneca VC, which connects pre-seed teams with a diverse community of investors and experienced founders, provides operational support, and teaches them how to build long-term value using the Lean Startup methodology.

As part of her work for Seneca, she serves as an equity advisor to the CEO of Venus Aerospace, a hypersonic spaceplane startup. For Productable, an innovation management SAAS platform for large organizations, Fraser serves as the equity advisor to the CEO, and the Head of Portfolio, designing the company's innovation portfolio management methodology.

She is also the equity advisor to the co-founder and CEO of the woman’s community organization, The Coven. Since 2016, Fraser has been a Strategic Advisor to Proctor & Gamble, supporting the company's innovation transformation, including GrowthWorks.

Fraser has held a number of other roles in her extensive career including Chief Product Officer, Director, Founder, Advisor, and entrepreneur in residence. She was one of 187 women CEOs in the U.S. to raise venture capital between 2011 and 2013.

In April 2023, Janice and her husband Jason are launching their first book, Farther, Faster, and Far Less Drama: How to Reduce Stress and Make Extraordinary Progress Wherever You Lead.

In our interview Janice gives us a sneak peek into her upcoming book (grab your copy!). Along with her own mental health founder journey we also discuss why she thinks founders need to care for their mental health in the same way elite athletes train, and the type of skills training she thinks should be in every founder's mental health toolbox. This is an episode you don’t want to miss!

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Find Janice Online:

• Website: www.janicefraser.com
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/janicefraser/
• Order your copy of her book, “Farther, Faster, and Far Less Drama: How to Reduce Stress and Make Extraordinary Progress Wherever You Lead"  Amazon, Indigo or BenBella

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Connect with your host, Dr. Melissa Parks, elsewhere:

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/melissacparks/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/melissaparksphd

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/melissaparksphd/

Website: https://melissaparks.com/

Set up your free discovery call with Melissa:  https://melissaparksphd.as.me/30minconsult

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If you’d like additional support for your mental and emotional well-being as a founde

In this episode, we do speak about alcohol consumption as it relates to the company founded by this week’s guest. This could be triggering for anyone who struggles with alcohol use so please choose wisely if this is the right episode for you.

In this episode, I’m introducing you to Adam Higginbotham, one of three co-founders of Liber & Co. Essential Cocktail Syrups based in Austin, TX. Liber & Co. is a leading manufacturer of premium quality cocktail syrups for professional beverage programs and home bartenders alike.

Adam is also a husband and father and in this episode, we speak about the important role his family plays in his entrepreneurial journey and what helps him to juggle the demands of work life and family life.

Adam's origin story is inspiring. In this episode we dive into how he and two college friends, one of whom is his identical twin brother, turned a hobby into a successful business, the challenges he’s faced in transitioning from a founder-operator to a more executive role as the company has grown, how he finds the balance between being a confident leader, while still modeling humility and a growth mindset, and more.

Tune in to the full episode to hear Adam’s story and learn from the challenges he’s overcome on his entrepreneurial journey.


Find Adam online:

• Liber & Co:  https://www.liberandcompany.com/
• Tik Tok: https://www.tiktok.com/@liberandco
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/liberandco

Connect with your host, Dr. Melissa Parks, elsewhere:

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/melissacparks/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/melissaparksphd

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/melissaparksphd/

Website: https://melissaparks.com/

Set up your free discovery call with Melissa:  https://melissaparksphd.as.me/30minconsult

If you’d like additional support for your mental and emotional well-being as a founder please visit Melissa’s website for a list of resources to help you find a coach, therapist, or peer support.

TW: In this episode, we briefly discuss a hate crime on the AAPI community that happened around the time of this interview.

Entrepreneur life is full of mental and emotional challenges, but when you’re female, especially a minority female founder, like today’s guest, you’ll have additional obstacles to overcome.

In today’s episode, I’m introducing you to Jiaming Ju, the founder of Kun Health, a wellness startup that combines Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) with modern data science to optimize longevity through better movement health, using her family's cherished herbal medicine formula.

Prior to diving into the world of entrepreneurship, Jiaming worked for a decade in the economics think tank industries. After a masters in Columbia university’s school of international and public affairs, she ran Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz’s think tank, the Initiative for Policy Dialogue in New York. She was responsible for programming, fundraising and her work took her from India to Jordan. She then moved to Singapore to run the world’s largest longitudinal data collection for older adults.

We cover a lot in this interview including the unique challenges that Jiaming has faced as a minority female founder and what has helped her to overcome these obstacles, as well as how she juggles all of the different roles she has, and prioritizes her mental health.

Find Jiaming online:

• Kun Health website: https://www.kun.health/
• Work with Jiaming: https://Kunhealth.as.me/
• Kun Health on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/kunhealth/
• Jiaming on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jiaming-ju%E9%9E%A0%E4%BD%B3%E6%98%8E-5a85a021/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kunhealth/

Connect with your host, Dr. Melissa Parks, elsewhere:

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/melissacparks/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/melissaparksphd

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/melissaparksphd/

Website: https://melissaparks.com/

Free guide for tapping in to your inner compassionate business coach:

https://melissaparks.com/self-compassion-entrepreneurs/ 

If you’d like additional support for your mental and emotional well-being as a founder please visit Melissa’s website for a list of resources to help you find a coach, therapist, or peer support.

When you’re in the thick of things as a founder you often start questioning whether or not it’s still worth it. Our guest in this week’s episode is an exited founder who isn’t shy about her experience with this but actually puts a positive spin on her frequent desire to throw in the towel. She credits the mantra she and her husband, her co-founder, shared - “We’ll Just Work Until the End of the Day” - for helping them to survive some of the more challenging days on their entrepreneurial journey.

Kate Berski is a British Entrepreneur and Writer. After 15 years in Advertising and Brand Consulting, she co-founded Curlsmith, a high-performance gourmet haircare line, in 2018. It became one of the fastest growing textured hair brands and now retails at Ulta Beauty, Sephora, Target, feel unique and more. Kate exited the business in 2022, when it was acquired by consumer goods giant Helen of Troy.

Kate shares with us her story from the very beginning of her startup through the phase of exiting the company, and what’s next for her. She gives us a candid look at some of the fears and self-doubt she faced during her time as a co-founder and what helped her to keep putting one foot in front of the other. We also dive into the pros and cons of co-founding a company with your husband, how she juggled her role as a co-founder with becoming a mother, her experience becoming an exited founder, and what she’ll do differently next time around.

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Find Kate online:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kate-evans

Kate is currently researching for a book - “Help! I'm 30-ish” - a light-hearted self-help guide to surviving the most transformative of decades, your 30s. Follow her journey on:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/help_im_30ish/

Tik Tok: 

https://www.tiktok.com/@help_im_30ish

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Connect with your host, Dr. Melissa Parks, elsewhere:

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/melissacparks/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/melissaparksphd

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/melissaparksphd/

Website: https://melissaparks.com/

Free guide for tapping in to your inner compassionate business coach: 

Self-Compassion - Melissa Parks, PhD

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If you’d like additional support for your mental and emotional well-being as a founder please visit Melissa’s website for a list of resources to help you find a coach, therapist, or peer support.

‌No matter how far you get in your career, how visible your role is, or how many career wins you have under your belt, none of us are immune from experiencing fear, self-doubt, or anxiety.

However, because so many leaders don’t share this more vulnerable part of their story, there remains a pervasive myth that successful leaders are exempt from experiencing these feelings.

This is why I’m so grateful that this week’s guest on the show is helping to bust this myth by sharing some of the mental and emotional challenges he’s faced throughout his career and what’s helped him overcome them.

Ian Massingham is a leader in the tech startup ecosystem who has helped hundreds of thousands of startups around the globe. He is VP, Developer Relations & Community at Aiven, a series-D open source data infrastructure startup headquartered in Helsinki Finland. Prior to Aiven, Ian held a similar role at MongoDB, and before that he spent almost 8 years at Amazon Web Services. His final role at AWS was Global Director, Worldwide Solutions Architecture for Startups. Before the pandemic, Ian was a very frequent traveler and public speaker in his roles at AWS, traveling and speaking on behalf of AWS at customer and developer events across the globe.

In this episode you’ll get a glimpse at Ian’s career successes, but not without a look at some of the challenges that he’s faced along the way. He’s also sharing some of his tips for creating boundaries between work and personal life, overcoming fears and self-doubt, and making the most of receiving critical feedback. This is an episode you don’t want to miss!

Find Ian Online:

• Ian’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/imassingham/
• Ian’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/IanMmmm
• Check out Aiven at Aiven.io - they’re hiring!

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Connect with your host, Dr. Melissa Parks, elsewhere:

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/melissacparks/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/melissaparksphd

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/melissaparksphd/

Website: https://melissaparks.com/

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If you’d like additional support for your mental and emotional well-being as a founder please visit Melissa’s website for a list of resources to help you find a coach, therapist, or peer support.

Founding a startup is not for the faint of heart, but female founders in particular have the odds stacked against them when they embark on their entrepreneurial journeys.

Although 40% of companies in the U.S. are owned by women, female founded companies receive only a fraction of venture capital investments - about 2% in the U.S. and Europe. If we look at the rates for minority women we see an even grimmer picture with only 0.27% of black women founders receiving VC funding in 2021. Without that funding it can be incredibly difficult, and even impossible, for female founders to grow their businesses and compete with larger companies.

Female founders also face a unique set of challenges that result from unconscious bias, lack of community and mentorship, and many are juggling a caregiving role alongside their professional responsibilities. Not to mention the fact that our cultural conditioning may affect our confidence, or decrease our ability to maintain a sense of internal safety when engaging in the risk taking behaviors that are often required of successful founders.

My guest on this week’s episode is on a mission to help female founders overcome these obstacles and defeat the odds. Emmie Faust is a mum of 4, serial exited founder, Dragon’s Den winner and founder of Female Founders Rise. Through her company, Female Founders Rise, she’s helping to empower female founders and provide them with the resources and support needed to secure funding and everything else they need to successfully grow their companies.

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Find Emmie Online:

Emmie’s LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/emmiefaust/

Female Founders Rise on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/female-founders-rise/

Female Founders Rise website: 

Female Founders Rise

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Connect with your host, Dr. Melissa Parks, elsewhere:

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/melissacparks/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/melissaparksphd

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/melissaparksphd/

Website: https://melissaparks.com/

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If you’d like additional support for your mental and emotional well-being as a founder please visit Melissa’s website for a list of resources to help you find a coach, therapist, or peer support.

Entrepreneur life can sometimes feel like you’re on a boat out at sea with one storm after another raining down and no life preserver in sight. When you’re in the thick of it, it may feel tempting to call it quits, head for shore, and return to corporate life.

But what if you’re a social entrepreneur and your company’s mission is close to your heart? What if throwing in the towel isn’t an option because you know firsthand how much the world needs what your company has to offer?

Founding a company designed to solve a problem that your family has been affected by, especially if it’s one that you continue to be affected by today, brings with it its own set of challenges. Even if you decide to walk away from the company, the mission will still be front and center in your life.

That being said, as you’ll learn from our guest in today’s episode, there’s nothing like having a big “WHY” driving your company’s mission to help you to weather the storms of entrepreneurial life and recover from the inevitable setbacks. Prepare to get inspired by our guest, Pam Durant, who made the decision to step out of her comfort zone and leave corporate life behind, all for the greater good.

Pam is a certified health coach, and social entrepreneur, and founder of Diapoint, a social entrepreneurship startup that supports those touched by diabetes. Driven by the lack of support and information when her son was diagnosed with Type1 Diabetes at just 20 months old in 2009, Pam left a successful 20-year corporate career in 2016 as a healthcare manager and consultant to create Diapoint to support and empower others experiencing diabetes or caretaking for someone with diabetes.

We cover a lot of topics in this conversation in addition to weathering the storms as a social entrepreneur. Tune in to hear Pam’s tips for overcoming fears and self-doubt, the unique challenges experienced by female founders, what it means to “show up” for your team, and more. You’re sure to get inspired by her story of resilience and turning adversity into advocacy as a social entrepreneur.

Find Pam and Diapoint online:

Diapoint Website

Diapoint Shop website

Pam’s Health Coaching website

Diapoint Instagram

Diapoint Facebook 

Diapoint Twitter

Pam’s Health Coaching Instagram

Pam’s Health Coaching Facebook 

Pam’s Health Coaching Twitter

Connect with your host, Dr. Melissa Parks, elsewhere:

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/melissacparks/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/melissaparksphd

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/melissaparksphd/

Website: https://melissaparks.com/

If you’d like additional support for your mental and emotional well-being as a founder please visit Melissa’s website for a list of resources to help you find a coach, therapist, or peer support.

Loneliness is prevalent amongst entrepreneurs, especially in the fast paced, high pressure world of startups. You’re often working alone, and even when you have a team you might feel pressure to show up as a polished and perfect leader for your team members.

Not to mention the fact that many founders don’t have prior experience as leaders so the new leadership role may compound the feelings of loneliness. As a founder it’s likely you’ll at times find yourself feeling isolated and that no one understands your vision or your struggles.

Founding a startup is one of the most difficult things you’ll ever do and adding loneliness on top of that makes it more challenging than it needs to be. As our guest in episode 3 shares with us, loneliness is a natural human emotion, but there are steps you can take to combat loneliness as a founder and ensure that it doesn’t affect your mental health.

Vassia Sarantopoulou is the Founder, CEO and Head Psychologist of AntiLoneliness, a company offering mental health services in The Netherlands and also worldwide. She is also a Mental Health Educator, promoting Inner Peace, Mental Strength and Healthy Relationships with others and with our Self.

Through AntiLoneliness and her team of psychologists, she offers individual, couples or groups sessions to those who struggle with anxiety, depression, trauma, grief, burnout, loneliness, relationship issues, transition/change, expat life.

Connect with Vassia online:

• AntiLoneliness website
• LinkedIn - Vassia's profile
• LinkedIn- AntiLoneliness page
• Instagram
• YouTube
• Facebook

Connect with your host, Dr. Melissa Parks, elsewhere:

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/melissacparks/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/melissaparksphd

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/melissaparksphd/

Website: https://melissaparks.com/

If you’d like additional support for your mental and emotional well-being as a founder please visit Melissa’s website for a list of resources to help you find a coach, therapist, or peer support.

Founding a startup is not for the faint of heart. You’re surrounded by stressors - a fast paced environment, financial pressure, competition, and not to mention a high risk that your company will ultimately fail. Around 90% of startups fail, with 10% failing within the first year. However, no one starts a company with this in mind, and dealing with the stress of startup life coupled with a failing company, is likely to affect a founder’s mental health. Many founders struggle to take on the role of a founder again after experiencing startup failure and burnout.

In this week's episode of the Founders' Fears & Failures podcast, we welcome Josu Garcia de Albizu, a second time founder who's no stranger to the challenges of entrepreneurship. Josu shares his story of experiencing startup failure and burnout. Join us as we dive into the story of how he bounced back from a failed company, the lessons he learned and the strategies he’s using to maintain his mental and emotional well-being as a second time founder.

Josu is a seasoned product leader, originally from Spain, with more than 12 years of international experience in product management and software development. He has worked in companies such as Telefonica, Applause, and Deutsche Bahn, creating innovative products with a social impact and building cross-functional teams from scratch.

His current role is as the Chief Product Officer and co-Founder of Likeminded, a Berlin-based digital health startup that provides employees with fast, easy, and secure access to various, high-quality mental health care formats.

Josu’s first experience as a co-founder was at Wiffinity, a mobile platform that provided free WiFi to tourists, which he co-founded in 2013. His time as co-founder could be described as an “emotional rollercoaster ride” that lasted until the European Union announced the end of roaming charges in 2016, making Wi-Fi businesses less interesting for investors.

Whether or not you’ve experienced startup failure and burnout yourself, Josu’s story is a must-listen for anyone looking to navigate the journey of entrepreneurship with resilience and determination.

Find Josu online:

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/josugarcia/
Website: garciadealbizu.com.
LikeMinded website: https://www.likeminded.care/en

Connect with your host, Dr. Melissa Parks, elsewhere:

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/melissacparks/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/melissaparksphd

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/melissaparksphd/

Website: https://melissaparks.com/

If you’d like additional support for your mental and emotional well-being as a founder please visit Melissa’s website for a list of resources to help you find a coach, therapist, or peer support.