That time I stood barefoot on the beach and asked investors for $100k to improve female entrepreneur mental health
On January 12th, 2020 wearing a metallic silver duster, a white cowboy hat and a fanny pack worn backwards, I faced about 100 entrepreneurs and investors from across Latin America in winds strong enough to blow my hat off.
Holding the microphone tight and scrunching my feet in the sand, I got ready to deliver the 5 minute pitch I’d been working on for weeks.
Only 27 entrepreneurs out of the 265 that applied were accepted to Pitch At The Beach 2; three day event that combined investors and entrepreneurs for networking, pitching, sun and sand.
My aim was to raise $100,000 in investor funding, for resurgo, the platform for mental health for female entrepreneurs. The $100k will get resurgo to Minimum Viable Product within one year, and on track to $1 million in profit by year two.
I pitched for 5 minutes and answered 6 minutes of questions from the judges and investors.
I didn’t win the $5000USD first prize, and no one gave me a giant cheque immediately, but the pitch itself was well received. I am currently in talks with many different parties I met at the event to gain clarity on what next steps make the most sense to get resurgo off the ground as quickly as possible.
While I am working on getting funding, preorders help show potential investors that there is traction for the idea.
For more information about resurgo - go to getresurgo.com
What I said in my pitch:
Hi I’m Laurel
Since 2003, I’ve helped over 20,000 self employed people work and live better.
Everyday I see founders grapple with anxiety, depression, imposter syndrome, and - more often than you’d think - substance abuse issues, manic behaviour and sometimes suicidal ideation.
In 2015, the University of Berkley released a report that explained entrepreneurs have a genetic predisposition to poor mental health that increases its prevalence by three times the global average.
Suddenly a lot of the pain I’ve been seeing in my work makes perfect sense.
Over the last four years I’ve been doing research for my book and working almost exclusively with female founders, and I’ve noticed something else.
Women really are experiencing gender based obstacles to their health and their success. The statistics I’ve been reading about are happening in real people’s lives all around us.
And let’s not forget - the occupation already isn’t great for mental health - you know - high risk of failure, financial uncertainty, long working hours.
So, what’s my point?
Female founders statistically have an above average risk profile for developing mental health issues.
Poor mental health is directly linked to one of the top three factors preventing women from scaling and growing business at the rates of men.
Which is one of the reasons why they typically earn about 30-40% less than their male counterparts.
Does anyone know the economic impact of this impaired growth?
According to government studies, more than 500 billion dollars in revenue could be generated by women - and that’s just in the UK and Canada!
That’s 500 billion dollars in jobs, opportunities and growth locked away because women in business are suffering.
Now, in spite of their financial situation, collectively these women are spending BILLIONS of dollars on personal & professional development.
They’re TRYING to feel better so they can DO better. But there’s nothing on the marketplace tailored to their specific needs.
I would know, I’ve dedicated significant time & resources to recovering from burn-out, bankruptcy and alcoholism, as well as gender violence, harassment and discrimination. These are the realities for many women founders. I want to live in a world where we can get the support we need as women and as founders - all in one place.
This is where resurgo comes in.
As the only mental health platform for female entrepreneurs, resurgo directly addresses three of the four most prominent key obstacles to growth for female founders.
It reduces isolation by pairing founders up and plugging them into support circles.
It makes it easy to keep track of symptoms - and with automated prompts and recommendations - it takes the guesswork out of taking action to feel better.
Resurgo makes it convenient to access professional help - when needed - by booking right through the app.
Resurgo is everything female founders need for better mental health; all in one place, and always available.
Resurgo’s freemium business model supports female entrepreneurs with free access to some features and all access at $13 a month. Resurgo also retains 20% percent of all sessions booked through the app, so it generates both b2b and b2c revenue streams.
The preorder growth is steady, and I am currently in talks with the women’s enterprise centre to roll resurgo out to their 100,000 women in business.
My life’s work is helping female founders feel better so they can do better - with resurgo - which means “rise” in Latin and is tattooed right here.
Now is the right time to solve this problem. The numbers of female founders are set to double within the next 10 years - by 2030 there will be over 300 million of us.
Statistics show, with the right social supports, female founders do grow and scale businesses at rates equal to or higher than their male counterparts.
Let’s help female founders earn the $500 billion dollars currently left sitting on the table. Come talk to me about resurgo or visit getresurgo.com.
That time I stood barefoot on the beach in Mexico and asked investors for $100,000
