Anne-Laure Le Cunff
Founder, Ness Labs
Anne-Laure founded Ness Labs, a platform offering neuroscience-based content and coaching to thousands of entrepreneurs and knowledge workers. Ness Labs provides workshops, events, books, and online discussions around the topics of mental health in entrepreneurship, mindful productivity, remote work, and the neuroscience of leadership.
Starting her career at Google, first in London then in San Francisco, Anne-Laure led Global Marketing for Google Fit, securing partnerships and launching campaigns to encourage people to move more, sleep better, and improve their diet. Her work at Google brought her to collaborate with policy makers, startups, and influencers across the health technology sector.
As a consultant, Anne-Laure helps companies support high-performing teams by building programmes to foster psychological safety, growth mindset, and metacognition. Her clients include Founders Academy, Founder Summit, and Backed VC.
She is a member of the Society for Neuroscience, a fellow of Founders of the Future, and a mentor at DevelopHER UK. She was named one of the UK’s most inspiring women in tech by Management today. Her work has been featured in WIRED, Forbes, Rolling Stone, and more.
Why do you support the work of The Entrepreneurs Network?
By creating the jobs of tomorrow, entrepreneurs are vital to the economy. Acting as a bridge between businesses and politicians, The Entrepreneurs Network ensures that the voices of UK businesses are heard by government leaders. With cutting-edge research and insightful events, the work of The Entrepreneurs Network has been vital to facilitating this important dialogue.
What research should more people read?
The Startup Manifesto is a must-read for policy makers, venture capitalists and journalists alike to better understand the key policy issues impacting innovation and entrepreneurship in the UK. As an immigrant founder, I also recommend reading Job Creators, which found that almost half of the UK’s fastest-growing startups have at least one foreign-born co-founder.
Lastly, a topic close to my heart is mental health in entrepreneurship. This excellent research paper from King’s College London urges researchers to go beyond applying models developed for employees, and to develop dedicated models to understand and support entrepreneurs’ mental health.
Why is the UK an attractive place to grow a business?
With a culture of innovation and collaboration, the UK is a diverse and dynamic hub which is considered a world leader in business. In addition, some of the best research institutions in the world make the UK a trailblazer in science and technology. It’s no wonder the thriving startup ecosystem provides so many opportunities for entrepreneurs to start and grow their business.