"We are not a vitamin, but medicine"

With her start-up Mindsurance, Viktoria Lindner wants to help companies improve the mental health of their employees and strengthen it preventively. In an interview, she explains how this is supposed to work - and why it is dangerous to underestimate the topic.

Three years after founding her first start-up Driveimpact, a marketplace for the placement of HR freelancers, Lindner wants to dedicate herself to her great passion, mental health, and founded for the second time. With Mindsurance, she is starting all over again and would do it again anytime.

Ms. Lindner, why did you found Mindsurance?

I studied psychology, so I have a background in psychology. Already during my studies I realized that I have a passion for the topic of Mental Health. Through Corona and the impact of the pandemic in my area, I saw how important the topic is and how little is talked about and even more how little is done for mental health.

What do you want to achieve with Mindsurance?

Our vision is to create a platform with a qualified selection of offerings to help companies improve the mental health of their employees. With Mindsurance, we want to offer a digital practice experience that welcomes users, where they are listened to, can easily find the right offerings, and then get started right away

What differentiates Mindsurance from other providers?

There are very good providers in the B2C space, but they lack B2B contact. We have a solution where we give a platform to niche offerings on both the provider and consumer side and connect with employees of companies. All of our offerings come from manufacturers who have been able to prove the effectiveness of their products in studies. We are also differentiated by the variety and diversity of offerings, from niche to widespread problems. Our matching principle the educational work we do on this is extremely relevant, it makes us unique.

How have attitudes toward psychological services changed during the pandemic?

Since the beginning of the pandemic, we perceive a very strong change. Companies no longer see Mental Health as an issue that can be fobbed off with yoga during lunch breaks, but have come to understand that it requires a strategy across the organization. Corona and now the Ukraine war are extremely highlighting the impact that such exceptional situations can have on mental health.

Are you yourself active as a psychologist at Mindsurance? After all, that's what you studied.

At Mindsurance, I don't work as a psychologist, but with my team in the sales and B2B area. My daily tasks include everything to do with customer acquisition, building customer relationships, marketing and brand development. In discussions with companies and partners, however, it is of course always an advantage to be a specialist and to know what you are talking about.

What do you do with the insights you gain about all those people?

On the personal side, everything is anonymous with us. Clients should and can trust us completely. The only thing we record is activity and what issues occurred most often. Based on that, we create a mental health index, which is a meta-analysis of employees' mental health and what issues they're dealing with. Our customer care specialists then also sat down with the HR teams of the companies and jointly develop workshops and modules to support employees even better. We solve problems not only at the individual level but also at the team level.

Which problems are most prevalent among employees?

Stress is high up in the rankings. The issue of isolation and loneliness was very present again due to Corona and the winter months. And many are also concerned with relationship issues. FOMO ("Fear of missing out") has also been on our minds a lot lately, as during the lockdown many felt they missed out on something that they now want to catch up on.

Where would you like to be with Mindsurance in five years?

Our vision is to be an online mental health practice where anyone can get easy access and help, and work on their mental health on a permanent basis - preferably as a preventative measure, rather than when symptoms become acute and it's hard to get out. Our goal is to be a one-stop shop across Europe for people with various mental challenges and needs. We also want to extend our services to family members, because we realize that very often one person is indirectly affected by the mental health problem of a close person.

What was the biggest challenge in setting up?

Creating awareness about Mental Health was a big issue for us. It's still very stigmatized. We still have to do a lot of education in companies and make them understand that we are not a vitamin, but medicine, and mental problems are real. Building the team was also not easy in the beginning. The team is incredibly important and it's the early employees who significantly shape the company culture.

What is your biggest learning from the start-up period?

There are millions of books on startup founding, but there isn't one that can be applied to every company. You can't just copy from other companies and there is no template that tells you what to do. Starting up means trying a lot of things. Some things work, others don't. It's a bit like sinking ships, at some point it becomes clear where the ships are. For me personally, the differences between bootstrap and venture capital funding were another important learning. With bootstrap, you can take more time and have less pressure. With venture capital financing, you have a kind of deadline by which certain things have to be done, so there is time pressure.

Thank you very much for the interview.

Personal details: Viktoria Lindner, who studied psychology, founded Mindsurance, her second start-up within three years after Driveimpact.