Opinion
Pierson: The US Possesses A Uniquely Supportive Culture For Ambitious Startups
“I think in the UK, you speak to someone about an idea, and they'll give you a thousand reasons why you can't do it, and I think in America, you say the same idea, and they go, there's a thousand reasons why it'll work, and have you thought about making it bigg…”
Opinion
Pierson: US Optimism Makes It Superior to UK for Ambitious Startups
“I think in the UK, you speak to someone about an idea, and they'll give you a thousand reasons why you can't do it, and I think in America, you say the same idea, and they go, there's a thousand reasons why it'll work, and have you thought about making it bigg…”
Assertion Supported
Puddicombe's Hodder & Stoughton Book Advance Funded Early Headspace Operations
“We managed to get a book deal, a three book deal with Hodder and Staunton, and the advance from that, which I think, you know, still, at that time it was like one of the highest advances paid for a debut non-fiction author, really funded the rest of the busine…”
Opinion
Pierson: Headspace Can Scale Content Using Instructors Beyond Andy Puddicombe
“As long as we always stay true to the way that we build products, I think there's a huge room to bring in other voices, other experts that aren't Andy, so.”
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Puddicombe Made Pierson A Co-Founder Because He Couldn't Afford To Pay Him
“Andy actually said to me, would you come and, would you like to work with me? And I thought he was saying, it's my business. Would you like to come and work for me? And I was like, yeah, sure. He said, well, I can't afford to kind of pay you. But would you do …”
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Pierson's Father Seeded Headspace And Refused Equity Until Their 2015 Series A
“He never ever once asked for any shares in the business, or any return for any of the money that he gave us. And to the point that actually when we finally did do A fundraise in 2015, like our first proper fundraise, that was when we kind of forced him to take…”
Assertion Supported
A Three-Book Publishing Advance Funded Early Headspace Operations
“Secondly, it started a process where we managed to get a book deal, a three book deal with Hodder and Staunton, and the advance from that, which I think, you know, still, at that time, it was like one of the highest advances paid for a debut non-fiction author…”
Assertion Supported
Virgin Atlantic Agreed To Distribute Headspace Meditation Content Across All Flights
“The first thing was a woman called Kathy Walters at Virgin agreed to put our content on every single Virgin Atlantic plane, and we pitched her down at Gatwick”
Assertion Not publicly verifiable
The Guardian Distributed One Million Free Headspace Booklets On Its Front Covers
“And then on the back of that, we then managed to convince the Guardian newspaper in the UK to put a million Booklets on the front, and we didn't pay for it.”
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Headspace Generated £32,000 In Revenue In Its First Month After Launch
“Like, in that first month that we launched, we took 32,000 pounds in revenue in that first January, and that was, you know, based, we'd never made a single penny in any month leading up to that.”
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Headspace Met With Over 60 VC Firms Before Closing Their First Deal
“We probably, to be honest, we probably went overboard, but we met over 60 different investment houses, would be the best way to describe it, until we found someone that we really felt aligned with, and we could get the deal done that would work for us.”
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Pierson's Father Invested Early in Headspace Without Asking for Equity
“He never ever once asked for any shares in the business or any return for any of the money that he gave us. And to the point that actually when we finally did do a fundraise in 2015, like our first proper fundraise. That was when we kind of forced him to take …”
Disclosure
Headspace Spent £20K of Its £50K Capital on Physical Collateral
“So we spent, of the 50,000 pounds, we spent 20,000 pounds of it on the kind of physical collateral to give out at the event.”
Assertion Not publicly verifiable
Virgin Atlantic Distributed Headspace Content on Every Plane for Free
“First thing is a woman called Kathy Waters at Virgin agreed to put our content on every single Virgin Atlantic plane.”
Assertion Partly supported
The Guardian Distributed One Million Headspace Booklets for Free
“And then, on the back of that, we then managed to convince the Guardian newspaper in the UK to put a million Booklets on the front, and we didn't pay for it.”
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Headspace Generated £32,000 in Revenue in Its Launch Month
“Like in that first month that we launched, we took 32,000 pounds in revenue in that first January. And that was, you know, based, we'd never made a single penny in any month leading up to that.”
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Headspace Pitched Over 60 Investment Firms Before Closing Funding Deal
“We probably, to be honest, we probably went overboard, but we met over 60 different investment houses, would be the best way to describe it, Until we found someone that we really felt aligned with, and we could get the deal done that would work for us.”
Opinion
Pierson: Pandemic Accelerated the Mental Health Conversation Faster Than Otherwise Possible
“We've always thought that mental health kind of, they, they're inextricably linked, but I think the situation has accelerated that conversation way, way quicker than it would have otherwise”
