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Stephen Hays is the founder of What If Ventures, a venture firm investing in mental health and addiction focused startups. Since inception of What If Ventures in January 2020, the firm has invested more than $83 million into 72 mental health & disruptive healthcare startups, with an LP base of over 4,100 investors who are all just as passionate ...
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Stephen Hays is the founder of What If Ventures, a venture firm investing in mental health and disruptive healthcare startups. After decades struggling with addiction, and type-1 bi-polar disorder, Stephen was able to experience a trans-formative change in his life with the help of his loving wife and children, his father, and close friends ...
Mar 18, 2021 · Startup investor Stephen Hays got hooked on gambling, drugs, women, and work. Getting free has been his toughest play of all.
- Addiction
- Mental Health
- August 2018
- Rehab
- Returning Home
- Higher Power
- Conclusion
For the better part of the last two decades, I have struggled with addiction and type 1 bipolar disorder. The addiction started with binge drinking in college and quickly manifest itself as a gambling addiction during my senior year at West Point. In the early years of addiction, I didn’t consider drinking to be anything other than a controllable, ...
In addition to the addiction issues, I have struggled with mental health all my life. Early in my childhood I was mis-diagnosed as ADD and given Ritalin. I was in the early stages of showing bi-polar tendencies with a bent toward manic episodes. The Ritalin acted as “speed” and made things worse. Just imagine giving someone in a manic state an “upp...
August of 2018 was when things all came to a head. Several incidents during the year had left me really struggling with my mental health issues. I found myself in Las Vegas late in August, trying to cope with a lot of my issues. On this trip I stayed at the Wynn Hotel but I booked an extra room at the Cosmopolitan solely because they had balconies....
When I arrived at The Meadows in Wickenburg, AZI was informed that every patient was required to attend Alcoholics Anonymous, Narcotics Anonymous or another meeting in the evenings. The first night, I went to an AA meeting and at this point, I was still not convinced that I was an alcoholic. There were about 30 people in the room that night and we ...
When I left rehab, I was on cloud nine. I thought I was “cured” in a way. The funny thing about rehab is that the more screwed up you are when you arrive, the more pats on the back you get for being there. It took me just a few days after returning home to realize that the real world was still full of difficulties. I still had all my problems, but ...
Right after I returned from rehab, I met with a minister from Prestonwood Baptist Churchwho was hired to form a recovery group in the church community. I told him my story and he seemed to be able to relate. Little did I know it, but he asked a guy named Bob, to reach out to me who had a very similar story to mine. So, one day this guy Bob asks me ...
Fast forward to today. I feel the best I’ve ever felt. My wife and I are the best we have ever been. My kids are the happiest and most well behaved they have ever been. What was the thing that got me here? I don’t know specifically. I couldn’t have done it without Bob and the Bible study. I couldn’t have done it without my wife. I couldn’t have don...
Stephen Hays is the founder of What If Ventures, a venture firm investing primarily in early-stage mental health and addiction recovery-focused startups.
- Founder & Managing Partner
- What If Ventures, What If Ventures
About What If Ventures — What If Ventures is a mental health focused early stage investment syndicate run by Stephen Hays. What If Ventures closed its first mental health startup investment in January of 2020 and intends to syndicate its investments for the remainder of 2020.
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- What If Ventures
