Reeva Misra is the CEO and co-founder of WONE, an AI-powered coach for workplace stress.
The London-based company uses biometrics and clinical assessment to measure stress levels, and then provides recommendations from an AI coach and interventions from experts via an app.
WONE, which stands for Walking On Earth, also provides a dashboard for companies to understand employee wellbeing.
In this week’s Founder in Five Q&A, Misra explains why you should stay true to your pitch deck no matter the investor, how she leads by example when it comes to preventing burnout, and shares what surfing taught her about business.
1. What advice would you give to a first-time founder?
Reeva Misra: Always act from a place of authenticity and everything else will follow. Being authentic is doing everything with integrity, having the courage to stand up for what you believe in, and not compromising on your values. By doing so, you can never fail, because you’ve stayed true to yourself.
Take fundraising for example. Some people will advise you to change your pitch depending on who you’re meeting but this is a time where staying authentic couldn’t be more important. You’ll attract investors who genuinely believe in you and your mission, and will therefore be more likely to go that extra mile to help you along the way.
2. How do you motivate your team?
RM: Through a strong, unifying desire to create impact at a large scale. Everyone on the team is deeply passionate about our mission to end the stress epidemic. It’s what drives us and unites us.
We use an operating model called the North Star Framework to ensure our mission guides all business decisions. Our quarterly OKRs and cross-functional squads work on problem statements that feed into our north star: to reduce stress in 100 million people.
This framework has transformed how we work, motivating the team by providing alignment and autonomy and a clear view of how their work impacts our mission.
3. How do you prevent burnout?
RM: This is such an important topic and the reason why I founded my company, WONE. I could talk about it for hours!
As the founder and CEO, it’s key I lead by example. I maintain my own weekly thresholds of sleep, exercise, meditation, and nutrition. Our team completes stress manuals to define personal stress triggers and relievers, distinguish good vs. bad stress, and better understand each other.
I also use micro-moments of recovery during the day, such as closing my eyes and taking 10 long deep breaths before a pitch or after a long meeting. Science has shown that five minutes is all you need to downregulate your nervous system to a relaxed state, and this helps prevent chronic stress.
4. What’s a fact about yourself that people might find surprising?
RM: Surfing has taught me the most important lessons about building a company. My dream daily routine is going for a 6am surf before work. Starting my day in the ocean, watching the sun rise as I catch a wave is when I experience an unparalleled state of flow.
It’s taught me intense physical and mental strength juxtaposed with the need to practise patience and let go of control. To master surfing, you have to put yourself out of your comfort zone and totally let go of negative emotions around control, fear and ego.
By instead approaching surfing with presence, ease and confidence, you will be in that state of flow which makes surfing seem effortless.
5. Do you have a productivity hack?
RM: I am methodical about putting everything in my calendar, down to the tiniest detail.
At the beginning of the week, I plan and prioritise the tasks I need to get done, and the social and health priorities to make me feel my best. Then, alongside my work meetings, I’ll put blocks in my calendar for work tasks, exercise and social commitments. Most importantly, I add blocks for ‘me/ free time’, to ensure I don’t over-commit and end up feeling depleted.
I also have WONE sessions appear in my calendar with a five or 10-minute micro-moment of recovery in between a busy day of meetings. The sessions are driven by our AI recommendation engine so they’re personalised to my preferences, needs and schedule.
Founder in Five – a UKTN Q&A series with the entrepreneurs behind the UK’s innovative tech startups, scaleups and unicorns – is published every Friday.
The post WONE founder: Surfing taught me key lessons for building a startup appeared first on UKTN.
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