Founder’s Dozen: Nick Taylor, Founder and CEO of Unmind.

Our third founder Q&A from the founder of Unmind and his journey so far.

Describe yourself in 3 words.

Hardworking, personable, proactive.

Where are you from?

I was born in London, grew up in Oxfordshire and Wiltshire and did my undergrad in Manchester. Fun fact — I was a chorister in Salisbury — I’m sure the old angelic voice is still in there somewhere but it hasn’t come out since starting Unmind!

What does Unmind do?

Unmind is a workplace mental health platform, providing pre-emptive solutions to employees and allowing employers to better understand their teams.

What inspired you to set up your business?

I’ve worked in mental health all of my life in one way or another. I was a volunteer Samaritan during my undergraduate studies, and worked for a mental health charity after graduating. I was mentored by a Clinical Psychologist during this time and was inspired to return to university to study Clinical Psychology. After my Doctorate at Sheffield, I worked as a Clinical Psychologist within the NHS. During these various roles, I encountered many issues around mental health treatment — people aren’t typically afforded access to mental healthcare in a timely way and, as a society, we are reactive rather than proactive. After doing my time with the NHS, I left to co-found Unmind three years ago. From day one, my co-founders and I wanted Unmind’s solution to be proactively preventive, consumer-grade, workplace-focused and based on cutting edge science.

Who are some of your key customers?

British Airways, Just Eat, William Hill, John Lewis, Slaughter & May, and Hogan Lovells to name a few. Our tool has a key role to play in pretty much every sector you can think of.

How did you first come across True?

True’s seed investment team (Oksana and Kalinka, at the time) reached out to me. Oksana also was an angel investor in Unmind’s co-founder’s (Ry Morgan), previous business, so there were loads of connections. We weren’t fundraising, having just closed our first angel round, but I met with True and was very impressed by the team and True’s three-pronged business model. I also felt the retail space was a good home for our solution as the retail workforce hasn’t traditionally received much support, particularly when it comes to mental health issues.

How has True. helped your business?

True has helped on a number of levels. Aside from the obvious (investment), they have provided key strategic support in building our team from three or four to 40+ today within a little over two years. They’ve also helped to accelerate our corporate proposition, by opening doors into the likes of John Lewis and LandSec.

What’s the best thing about being an entrepreneur?

You get the opportunity to meet extraordinary people all the time and you have the power to bring your own ideas to life. I’m in the very fortunate position of being excited to get to work every day.

What’s the worst thing about being an entrepreneur?

It’s hard to find the off switch.

What advice would you give to other founders in terms of finding the right investors for your business?

The best thing to do is to trust your instinct about investors. As part of this, don’t just talk business. Interact with investors on a more personal level as well, understand what makes them tick.

What’s the biggest trend in your sector right now?

Mental health is a key priority across the world right now. The biggest shift within the industry is the move from reactive to preventive treatment. At Unmind, we see ourselves as pioneers of this shift, and we believe that the burgeoning preventive approach has many positive ramifications.

If you could go back to day 1 at Unmind, would you do it?

Yes, but there is a very long list of things I’d do differently.