Christina Richardson

Founder, Foundology and Associate Professor in Entrepreneurship, University College London

Christina founded Foundology – the coaching community dedicated to founders – to fuel the humans behind the world’s scalable startups, as they bravely navigate the life of founderhood. She is also Associate Professor in Entrepreneurship at University College London where she trains the next generation of founders for the journey, having launched the first dedicated founder-leadership MSc programme within enterprise education.

Having spent almost a decade as a tech-entrepreneur, Christina knows first-hand the health challenges of leading a fast-growth startup. Her first research study in 2019 uncovered how widespread this challenge was, with nine out of ten founders showing mental health strain, and she set out on a mission to change that by building Foundology. Now, hundreds of founders meet every month for coaching, peer-learning and cathartic community support. Together they are cracking real-time problems together, learning from each other and supporting each other through founderhood.

Prior to this, Christina’s career started managing brands at Nestle, Britvic and Mercedes, driving forward marketing growth and innovation. She then co-founded two technology startups herself – the first launched in 2012 and was acquired by Enterprise Nation in 2015; the second was a Cannes Lions Innovation award winner and used by brands like Samsung, Vodafone and Expedia.

Why do you support the work of The Entrepreneurs Network?

As an entrepreneur, research is interesting but actioning that research is what matters. The Entrepreneurs Network, alongside their work with the APPG in Entrepreneurship, is the beacon of this mindset. Time and time again, they delve deeply into topics that affect founders, and their recommendations for improvements actually come to fruition. Connecting politicians and business in this way is fundamental to improving the lives of entrepreneurs who are the lifeblood of our economy, sustaining jobs today and creating the jobs of the future.

What research should more people read?

A study was done in partnership with The Entrepreneurs Network to investigate the state of the nation when it came to founder mental health. The report does not make for light reading. Nine out of ten entrepreneurs show signs of mental health strain – most with multiple mental and physiological symptoms on a weekly and monthly basis – and eight out of ten report feeling lonely on the startup rollercoaster. These are the individuals leading the businesses that drive the UK’s economic growth. We owe it to them to provide support on the human and leadership development side of the startup and scaleup rollercoaster. The report results were discussed in Westminster with leading MPs, and it fuels us every day at Foundology to work towards ecosystem level change.