How Starting Line Helps Founders Address Their Mental Health with Ezra Galston

Matt Preuss
Marketing Manager
About Ezra What You Can Expect to Learn from Ezra Related Resources
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On episode 5, season 2 of the Founders Forward Podcast, we welcome Ezra Galston. Ezra is the founder and partner at Starting Line, a consumer-focused VC fund located in Chicago.

About Ezra

As someone who has faced the ups and downs of being a founder (plus the stresses of fundraising), Ezra and the team at Starting Line has made mental health a focus. Every founder in the Starting Line portfolio receives a subsidy for “their first three sessions of therapy, executive coaching, or co-founder counseling (up to $200 each).” Ezra joins the Founders Forward to break down fundraising, founder health, and the consumer market/what excites the team at Starting Line.

Our CEO, Mike Preuss, had the opportunity to sit down and chat with Ezra. You can give the full episode a listen below:

What You Can Expect to Learn from Ezra

  • How a founder and board’s focus changes from early stages to later stage
  • How venture fundraising differs for the “haves” and “have nots”
  • How Ezra’s experiencing raising capital has impacted how he views fundraising
  • Why Starting Line has a focus on their portfolio founder’s mental health
  • How Starting Line subsidizes mental health sessions
  • Why fundraising is a relationship-based activity
  • Why he likes plenty of context before a meeting with a founder

Related Resources