Entrepreneur Mental Health & Wellbeing

Help your founders thrive.

Science-backed talks and workshops for entrepreneurs and the people who back them. Entrepreneurs' mental and physical wellbeing drives decision quality, team retention, and company survival — a risk every portfolio already carries, mostly unseen.

Michael A. Freeman, M.D. Cristina Poindexter Dustin D. McMahon, Ed.M. Grounded in peer-reviewed entrepreneur mental health research
Meet the Speakers ↓ Make a Request
Engagements at a Glance
Virtual

A talk or workshop, up to 45 minutes, live on your platform.

In-Person

A talk or fireside, up to 60 minutes, plus an after-talk debrief with your host.

Salon

The flagship: a custom salon or workshop, up to 90 minutes, fully tailored to your room.

See published pricing →
Econa's research has been featured in
The New York Times Financial Times Forbes Fast Company Fortune Bloomberg
The Roster

Three Speakers. One Body of Science.

Econa is a public benefit think tank for entrepreneur mental health and a non-profit founder support organization, with academic research roots in Dr. Michael Freeman's work in partnership with UC Berkeley. We turn research on founder mental health and wellbeing into talks, assessments, programs, and products that entrepreneurs and startup ecosystem leaders can use to shift the entire ecosystem toward thriving.

Three speakers, one shared foundation: Econa's peer-reviewed research on the entrepreneurial mind. Choose the voice that fits your room — or tell us about your event and we'll advise.

Michael A. Freeman, M.D.

Michael A. Freeman, M.D.

Founder of Econa

  • Former Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, UCSF School of Medicine
  • Fourth-generation entrepreneur
  • Pioneered the research field of entrepreneur mental health
  • His landmark study "Are Entrepreneurs Touched with Fire?" established the field's foundational data — built on 7,000+ hours of direct psychiatric care to founders
Speaks On
Stress Management Burnout Prevention Neurodiversity for Investors Intro Series
Cristina Poindexter

Cristina Poindexter

Advisor, Econa · Serial Entrepreneur

  • Four-time founder
  • Former Google and Headspace leader
  • Translates the science of founder wellbeing into language any room can act on
  • B.A. Sociology, Yale University · featured in Forbes and TechCrunch
Speaks On
The Thriving Founder Investor Salon on Founder Health
Dustin D. McMahon, Ed.M.

Dustin D. McMahon, Ed.M.

Advisor, Econa · Operator & Investor

  • A Dartmouth and Harvard graduate who spent his career in startups, Dustin is emerging as a leading voice on startup culture.
  • He has been published by Fast Company and featured in a Peacock series about entrepreneurs.
  • He is also a 2X kidney transplant recipient who traces those complications to overlooked stress.
  • Creator of the Centering Well-Being article and podcast series
Speaks On
Wellbeing in Action The Inner Life of a Founder
What You Can Book

Eight Talks Across Three Speakers

Every talk draws on the same peer-reviewed body of research on entrepreneur resilience, performance, wellbeing and mental health. Pick the talk that fits your audience — or tell us about your event and we'll advise on the right one.

The Speaker Menu · Cristina Poindexter & Dustin D. McMahon
Talk 01

The Thriving Founder

Cristina Poindexter

A science-backed call to shift startup culture from surviving to thriving. Most founders operate closer to survival than they admit, and most stay silent about it. This keynote reframes founder wellbeing as a measurable spectrum, and sends audiences home with the language, the science, and one concrete next step. Built for founder communities, accelerators and conferences.

Keynote Fireside Interactive Workshop
Talk 02

Investor Salon on Founder Health

Cristina Poindexter

A working session on the science of founder health — and your firm's stance toward it. An evidence-first salon on what the research actually shows: mental health challenges touch most founders — not an anomaly, but part of the entrepreneurial mind itself. Investors leave with the science, shared language, and a map of the roles they can play, from passive to reactive to proactive — each modeled by leading firms, each open at any level of budget or expertise. Designed for VC firms, family offices and boards.

Investor Salon Briefing Keynote
Talk 03

Wellbeing in Action

Dustin D. McMahon

Bridging the gap between research and practice. There is no shortage of wellbeing research, or of advice, but the bridge between them is missing. Dustin translates what the science actually supports into practices a founder can use the next morning, cutting through the noise to what holds up under pressure. Built for founder communities, accelerators and teams.

Keynote Workshop
Talk 04

The Inner Life of a Founder

Dustin D. McMahon

An interactive case study on what founders actually feel. Founders get endless advice on what to do, and almost none on what it feels like to do it. This interactive session walks through a real founder's story and stops on the moments people rarely admit to, leaving the room with shared language for the hardest parts of building. Built for founder communities and intimate salons.

Interactive Session Fireside
Signature Programs · Dr. Freeman

Stress Management for Entrepreneurs

Dr. Freeman

Evidence-based techniques tailored for the high-volatility, high-stakes entrepreneur experience. Practical tools your team can use immediately — not adapted from corporate wellness, built from the ground up for entrepreneurs.

Keynote Workshop Salon

Burnout Prevention for Entrepreneurs

Dr. Freeman

Identify warning signs before burnout derails your portfolio or your cohort. Built for entrepreneurs, not adapted from corporate wellness programs. Gives accelerator staff and investors a shared language for early intervention.

Keynote Workshop

Entrepreneur Neurodiversity for Investors

Dr. Freeman

Understanding the cognitive and emotional profiles behind entrepreneurial success — and how investors can better support the entrepreneurs they fund. Grounded in Econa's landmark population studies on entrepreneur mental health.

Keynote Workshop

Intro to Entrepreneur Resilience, Wellbeing & Mental Health

Dr. Freeman

A 3-module series covering the science of entrepreneur resilience, performance, wellbeing and mental health, the Entrepreneur Wellbeing Check (EWC) screening tool, and proactive engagement strategies. The ideal entry point for cohorts encountering these frameworks for the first time.

Workshop Salon
Who Brings Econa In

Built for the Entrepreneurship Ecosystem

Accelerators & Incubators

Support your cohort's mental health from day one. Econa's programs integrate directly into programming calendars and entrepreneur onboarding — delivered as standalone sessions or embedded across a full program cycle.

Venture Capital & Private Equity

Understand the resilience strengths, vulnerabilities and needs of venture-backed entrepreneurs. Entrepreneur Neurodiversity for Investors gives your team a research-backed framework for building trust, supporting entrepreneurs effectively, and unlocking performance across the companies you back.

Universities & Business Schools

Bring rigorous academic content to your entrepreneurship curriculum. Econa's speakers include clinical faculty who know how to teach — meeting students where they are and translating peer-reviewed research into actionable insight.

Regional Innovation Ecosystems

Advance the resilience and productivity of the innovators who advance your regional innovation ecosystem. Enter the brain economy from the ground level - where it makes the biggest impact.

Econa and its speakers have worked with
Cooley LAVA UC Berkeley Haas Techstars Wharton Neuroscience Initiative
Engagements & Pricing

Published Pricing. No Guesswork.

Virtual
Virtual Talk or Workshop
Up to 45 minutes · live on your platform
$3,500
Flat fee
Includes
  • Up to 45 minutes, live on your platform
  • The live Entrepreneur Wellbeing Check, run by Econa
Request this engagement →
In-Person
In-Person Talk or Fireside
Up to 60 minutes · plus after-talk debrief
$7,500
+ travel at cost
Includes
  • Up to 60 minutes on your stage
  • After-talk debrief with your host
  • The live Entrepreneur Wellbeing Check, run by Econa
Request this engagement →
Flagship
Custom Salon or Workshop
Up to 90 minutes · fully tailored
$10,000
+ travel where in person
Includes
  • Up to 90 minutes, fully tailored to your room
  • Facilitation, the live Entrepreneur Wellbeing Check, and debrief
Request this engagement →

Every engagement, at every tier, includes the live Entrepreneur Wellbeing Check (EWC) — run by the Econa team as part of the session, so your audience leaves with a real read on where they stand.

How Booking Works

Three Steps to the Stage

1
Book a 20-minute fit call

Start with the request form on this page. Rylee Neville, Econa's Project Manager, follows up within 3 business days to schedule the call.

2
We advise on the right talk

Tell us about your room and your audience — we'll recommend the speaker, the talk and the format that fit.

3
We deliver

Your session, with the live Entrepreneur Wellbeing Check built in. Engagements are typically booked six to eight weeks out.

Where It Leads

FounderScreen — portfolio resilience accelerator for VC firms

Econa's flagship program: a one-year virtual professional development program for your firm's platform leaders and venture partners, plus confidential screening and unlimited free access to the FounderScreen resilience and performance optimization program for all of your portfolio founders, each paired with customized resources. Cohort members receive a collective insights report with actionable recommendations for improving your founder support offerings.

Cohort 1 – applications now being accepted. From $10,000 - $30,000 per firm depending on portfolio size. The full program lives on the FounderScreen page.

Explore FounderScreen →
Make a Request

Tell Us About Your Event

Complete the form below and Rylee Neville, Econa's Project Manager, will follow up within 3 business days.

Rylee Neville, Project Manager  ·  Complete the form above  ·  Response within 3 business days

"
The entrepreneur's mind is wired differently. Our research doesn't pathologize that — it honors it, protects it, and helps the ecosystem around entrepreneurs understand what they're really working with.
Michael A. Freeman, M.D.  —  UCSF / Econa
Frequently Asked Questions

Booking Dr. Freeman or an Econa speaker, answered

Who are the Econa speakers?

Three speakers share one body of science: Michael A. Freeman, M.D., founder of Econa and former Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at UCSF; Cristina Poindexter, a four-time founder and former Google and Headspace leader with a B.A. in Sociology from Yale; and Dustin D. McMahon, Ed.M., a Dartmouth and Harvard graduate who spent his career in startups and is emerging as a leading voice on startup culture — creator of the Centering Well-Being series, published by Fast Company and featured in a Peacock series about entrepreneurs.

What topics do Dr. Freeman and Econa speakers address?

Dr. Freeman's signature programs cover stress management for entrepreneurs, burnout prevention, entrepreneur neurodiversity for investors, and an introductory series on entrepreneur resilience, wellbeing and mental health. Cristina Poindexter speaks on The Thriving Founder and leads the Investor Salon on Founder Health; Dustin D. McMahon presents Wellbeing in Action and The Inner Life of a Founder. Every talk draws on the same peer-reviewed body of research on entrepreneur resilience, performance, wellbeing and mental health.

What does a speaking engagement cost?

A virtual talk or workshop is $3,500 flat. An in-person talk or fireside is $7,500 plus travel at cost. The flagship custom salon or workshop is $10,000, plus travel where in person. Every tier includes the live Entrepreneur Wellbeing Check.

How does booking work?

Submit the request form on this page and Rylee Neville, Econa's Project Manager, will follow up within 3 business days to schedule a 20-minute fit call. We advise on the right speaker, talk and format, then deliver — engagements are typically booked six to eight weeks out.

Is the live Entrepreneur Wellbeing Check included?

Yes. Every engagement, at every tier, includes the live Entrepreneur Wellbeing Check (EWC) screening element, run by the Econa team as part of the session.