Oyama

Building startups is hard. Freakin’ hard. Do you agree? ⬇ How about being a founder? As I approach my 10-year anniversary as a startup founder, I want to take this year’s World Mental Health Day 💚 to bring attention to a topic close to my heart: founder mental health. A short recap of my entrepreneurial journey: • 2012: In high school, my friend Axel and I applied and secured a grant of €5000. We rebuilt the school gym. • 2015: I started my first company, Mental Link, a marketplace to match people with a psychotherapist. • 2017: I joined Kaiku Health (later acquired by Elekta) as the first hire in Sweden. Got to work closely with the serial entrepreneurs Lauri, Henri. • 2019: I founded Oyama and released a mental health app during the pandemic. Backed by founders Topias and Timo. • 2021: I started Firebird Advisory, my consulting company, currently working with resilient veterans Mika and Tarmo at Siffi and the superwomen Sanna and Henna at Nuanic. • 2024: We announced Oyama’s pivot and launched our second-gen product. Still on this journey with fellow entrepreneurs Sofia and Sérgio. Alongside my ventures, I’ve been fortunate to support fellow entrepreneurs and help build new businesses. For the past decade, I’ve lived and breathed startups. Here’s what I’ve learned about founder mental health: 1. Behind every company is a tenacious entrepreneur who, at times, struggles with their mental health. 2. It’s a constant challenge to balance startup work, life and well-being. 3. Do founders talk about it? Rarely. Some year's ago, we discussed the concept of a “founder wall” in Startup Foundations article by Verneri Välimaa. Should we talk about it? Hell yes. Why? Because by addressing it, we can focus better on our work and create a culture where mental health is seen as a driver of productivity. What do you think? #Entrepreneurship #Startups #MentalHealth #FounderLife #WorldMentalHealthDay #Leadership #Productivity #WorkLifeBalance #Oyama #Resilience #FounderMentalHealth #MentalHealthMatters #StartupCommunity #Pivot

Best feedback ever from a pilot customer, when you launch your 2.0 product? I would say so 💜 Makes all the ups and downs, sunshine and hailstorms worthwhile during our long journey of building Oyama up to this launch. This comment by Sandra Jernström, to my co-founder Niklas launch post yesterday, is a testament to our mission to bring valuable and impactful tools for a new era of personal development. By combining tech with psychology in a never-seen way, Oyama brings the most fundamental human skills into an app in every pocket. Our mission is clear, and our hearts beat strong for the well-being and growth of each of you. And if you have teams then we bring this to your organization. Oyama 2.0 is all about enabling businesses to in an easy effortless way invest in the well-being of a whole organization 💜 Our first program is all about strengthening EQ, with bite-sized educational content, individual exercises, and moments of reflection. Next programs are already in the making where we target those skills that truly have an impact on the trajectory of a company's growth and happiness. But for now - let me say thank you to all who have been part of this crazy but incredibly rewarding ride. There is no better entrepreneur school than building a company from scratch. Many out there have given your support and time, but the real hero in this fairytale is our fearless, ever-supporting, understanding, and loving leader Niklas. Without you, we wouldn't be here and this small, feisty, and ambitious team with Sérgio, Max, and Van would be all over the place (ish😅). Thank you team for this journey so far. We continue on Monday✌ Go to www.getoyama.com for prices and a sneak peek at what the Oyama app is all about. #getoyama #oyama #EQ #emotionalintelligence #personaldevelopment #startup #bootstrap #successstory #organisationaldevelopment #employeeexperience #culture

📣 Today is a big day because I’m finally revealing something we’ve been working on for the last 3 years. But first, let me tell you how we got here. 📣 The last 3 years have been some of toughest years in my life, both personally and professionally. (Those that stand close to me know that I don’t say that lightly.)  Here’s why: In 2020, Oyama went from being a leading European mental health startup with funding to not having any at all. We were unable to raise additional funding and we found ourselves in a seemingly hopeless situation. We knew we needed to do something extraordinary to turn things around. We pivoted to a bootstrapped company, found our hail mary CTO, Sérgio, and set out to rebuild. Over the last 2 years, we’ve developed a new product—Oyama 2nd Gen. We piloted it with a few companies and a whole bunch of users, and today, I’m excited to announce that Oyama is relaunching commercially. 💜 Oyama 2nd Gen is all about giving people easy-to-use, powerful tools for personal growth and mental well-being, blending tech and psychology in a way that’s never been done before. 💜 Currently, Oyama focuses on emotional intelligence. With just one app, companies can equip their teams with the skills they need to grow, connect and thrive. This is just the beginning as we have more programs in the making. Learn more at getoyama.com. It's been one of the most challenging periods of my life but today, I’m simply grateful that we’ve reached this milestone. I want to thank, first and foremost, my co-founders/team: Sofia, Sérgio, Max, Van. I also want to thank Nici, Nelli, Topias, who have supported me when times were really tough. Now, it’s time for a new beginning, and we continue the amazing work we’ve put in the last years. 🙏 How can you help? 1.  Like and comment on this post. Re-post, if you really want to give us some wind in the sails. 🤩 2.  Tag your workplace if you think this is something they should try out. Or, tag a friend who works in HR. 💼 3.  Follow us at Oyama and keep supporting our mission. We really appreciate you. 🙏🏼💜 #Oyama2ndGen #PersonalGrowth #emotionalintelligence #EQ #TeamCollaboration #OrganizationalSuccess

In our latest Entrepreneurial Lifestyle, we have the amazing Sofia Lund featured! 🧬 Sofia is a passionate lover of branding, people and startups, with over 20 years of experience leading and building global brands, companies, and teams. Her mission today, after leaving the corporate world behind, is to make sure that no great idea or entrepreneur fails due to the lack of a brand for your business. She’s here to inspire, educate, guide, and equip entrepreneurs with real, concrete tools to become both brand thinkers and doers. And to help startups upgrade their brand to where it belongs! She’s only just begun and there’s a lot happening in 2024. For work-life balance, Sofia is an expert and she, like many others, has gone through burnout. Her tips are: the better the balance of chill and execution, the better you will succeed in the long run. Mindset is not enough though, you have to live it as well. This is her top 3 list to keep the balance: 1️⃣ Sleep: This is non-negotiable. Prioritise quality sleep to recharge and perform at your peak. 2️⃣ Chill: Despite having millions of ideas and a drive to work, remember that constant work isn't possible. Set boundaries for work hours, and learn to chill out! Learn to relax and understand that sometimes, the best thing to do is not to work at all. Just breathing is sometimes simply enough. 3️⃣ People: Surround yourself with people who support you, cheer for you, and help you maintain your boundaries. They can provide perspective when you lose sight of what's good for you, and keep you grounded when needed. Swipe to read through Sofia’s best well-being tips 💛 #HankenBusinessLab #Hanken #Entrepreneurship Hanken School of Economics