Violet Alumni Spotlight: Jingyun Fan, Co-Founder & CEO of Shuni
Jingyun is Co-Founder & CEO of Shuni, an online sleep therapist’s office. She was previously an AI Research Scientist at Accenture & graduated from MIT with a degree in Biology. Jingyun is an alum of The Violet Society’s Founder Fellowship Cohort 4, in Fall 2019.
What was your background before starting your startup?
My first week of college at MIT, I remember it so clearly — another student told me “sleep, work, friends, choose two,” and it was really obvious which two I was supposed to pick. Needless to say, I did not take great care of myself back then.
As I did more research and got older, I realized that I had to prioritize my sleep more. So much so that after I went to grad school for mathematics, I joined a hardware startup called Hello that was working on tracking sleep. That’s where I met my current co-founder, Matt Walker. It was an interesting and insightful experience when Hello closed down.
After that, I spent some time at Accenture as an AI research scientist. This was such an amazing experience learning about all the back-office work that powers every single company. The practice of systematically thinking about how people’s work actually gets done and building solutions to make work better informs the technology aspect of Shuni today.
How did you start Shuni & what problem do you solve?
When my co-founder, Matt, and I first met at Hello, we both knew that tracking wasn’t the whole picture. We wanted to help people to not just collect a ton of data about their sleep, but also interpret it and actually sleep better.
When Hello closed down, we never stopped brainstorming. We realized that a lot of people just didn’t know that there was a safe, effective, and long-lasting cure for insomnia — sleep therapy, which works better than medications. And there is just such poor access today. Even though sleep therapy is something that can make a dramatic improvement in a person’s life, the chances for a person with insomnia actually getting it is 1 in 10,000. We want to solve this problem.
Where do you think your industry is going & how does your company fit into this?
Shuni is an online sleep therapist’s office — you’re doing video sessions with an expert sleep therapist. Sleep, in addition to nutrition and exercise, is one of the 3 pillars of good health, but so many people struggle with sleep. 25% of Americans develop acute insomnia each year, and this has huge implications for overall health.
My co-founder wrote a book, Why We Sleep, on this topic. For most people, their insomnia isn’t being adequately managed — physicians rarely ask about sleep, and other times they’ll just write out a drug prescription because it’s the easier thing to do. The good news is — I think today, people are asking more questions. Wait a minute, is this pill safe? Do I actually feel better during the day? Instead of just grinning and bearing it, let me talk to a sleep specialist and resolve this issue for good.
I think we are going through a paradigm shift when it comes to healthcare. We are going from just “trying not to die” to thinking holistically about wellness.
Consumers are also taking ownership of their personal health more. This means actively seeking out experts and finding the providers who will take the time to really listen and address the root cause of issues.
How did The Violet Society Founder Fellowship help you launch or grow this company?
First of all, being part of a community of other driven, hardworking female & non-binary people was so inspirational. And consistent inspiration is really key to staying motivated! It was also really helpful seeing how other founders approached their problems and having a safe space to process ideas.
One really interesting fireside chat was with Alexa Meyer, who is building a cool mental health startup, Coa. The wonderful people I’ve met through Violet, whether that be other founders in the program or speakers, have been really generous with giving tactical advice as well as making introductions.
What advice would you give to yourself 5 years ago?
First, I know this sounds really hippy-dippy (I live in Berkeley), but it is so important to both practice kindness and believe in kindness. It can be easy to underestimate the power of kindness as well as the importance of making really strong, human connections.
At the same time, I’ve also become a lot more careful about what sorts of feedback I take in and internalize. This is a skill that I think can be really counterintuitive for women and minorities because we are so conditioned to consider other people’s opinions more than our own. I’m learning to trust my own instinct and judgment more.
Shuni is an online sleep therapist’s office. If you or someone you care about has insomnia, you can sign up for a free 15-minute consultation to find out if sleep therapy can help you.
Applications are now open for The Violet Society’s Summer 2020 Founder Fellowship program (Applications Close Friday, May 15, 11:59 pm PST). Join our first remote-only program for a community of female & non-binary founders, mentorship from experienced leaders, accountability to your growth goals, and more. Email us with questions at info@thevioletsociety.com
