Product | People | Potential feat. Hppypeople

In this blog we chat with David Greenwood, PhD, founder of hppypeople.com. In this interview, David discusses the challenges of growing his team, the strategies for achieving product-market fit, and his approach to securing investment.

This interview is a must-read for anyone interested in the intersection of technology, well-being, and business innovation.

Can you please introduce yourself, what your business does, what stage you are at currently and what makes your business and offering unique?

“I beg you to save me from where I am” is something many of us on the frontline of burnout hear too often. I’m David Greenwood (PhD), founder of hppypeople.com.
While meditation apps have garnered the spotlight, they leave a significant gap in addressing burnout. The trouble is burnout “creeps up” over an extended period irrespective. Its silent theft of energy and productivity is accepted as an inevitable fact of life. But what if there was an alternative? What if there was a way to detect burnout before it takes its toll, providing an early warning system for fatigue and stress?

hppypeople.com plugs this gap with our Burnout Score App.

It empowers hardworking people with an ‘engine warning light’ and ‘rev-meter’ that reveals burnout “creep up” and prompts a change of gears. It’s built from the ground up for busy people so it only takes 60-seconds per day. It’s based on two decades of science so you and your friends can confidently do your best work and return home with energy for hobbies, and loved ones.

Currently, our product is in live BETA on the Apple store and Google Play with early adopters in the UK, US and Europe. You’re invited to join our BETA too. We’re very thankful for the support we’ve received from our Founding Members, Rebel Business School & University of Bath in making this happen.

Can you share the story behind the origin of your business and Service / Product?

The idea behind Burnout Score came from experiencing Burnout firsthand and witnessing its profound impact on friends, colleagues and family members. After 15 years in the Tech, Investment, and Consulting sectors, its toll on relationships, hopes and aspirations left a lasting impression that needed a solution.

During my own battle with burnout, I sought a way to proactively track my recovery and manage activity load effectively. Wearables offered physiological insight, but I craved a solution that integrated both the psychological and physiological aspects. My goal was simple: to excel at work and still have energy for life outside of it.

Frustrated by solutions that didn’t hit the mark, I delved into two decades of research on burnout, stress physiology, and emotional psychology. What emerged was a clear picture: burnout is quantifiable, its consequences are predictable, and science supports the notion of early detection.

Armed with this knowledge, I realised there’s an opportunity to empower 30+ million working people —a staggering 66% of whom will encounter it in their careers. Burnout Score was born out of this mission: to provide a practical evidence-based tool for managing burnout and reclaiming control over one’s energy.

Speaking of People, can you share some challenges you have faced, are facing or are anticipating around scaling and growing your team? Do you have any top tips you could share with those businesses faced with the same issues?

Finding the right co-founder while operating has been like navigating through stormy seas while threading a needle. It’s a challenge, but with the right match, it will propel our enterprise forward exponentially. At hppypeople, we understand the importance of those first 10 hires—they’re not just team members, they’re opportunity multipliers, they’re people that share our vision

I’m seeking a co-founder to complement my skills—a passionate advocate for our end-users, driven by growth, making a difference and experienced in consumer-focused products. If you or someone you know fits this description, I’d love to connect!

Top tips from my experience in scale-ups: hire exceptional individuals who believe in the mission. Look for those that demonstrably walk the walk. And remember, trust your instincts—if something feels off, it probably is. Entrepreneurs First have great insights on hiring!

Moving to Product, what has been your approach to understanding and implementing product market fit or sales cycles?

When it comes to understanding product-market fit and sales cycles, we swear by a customer-centric, hypothesis-driven approach. Our mantra? Test, learn, iterate. At hppypeople.com, we’re all about finding the quickest and simplest ways to validate our ideas, constantly refining until we strike gold with our customers.

Our weekly cadence keeps us on our toes, working closely with early adopters to fine-tune our product until it’s a shining 5-star gem on Trustpilot or we realise it’s not the right fit. As a startup, our focus is on becoming a product-market fit learning machine—failure to learn and lack of ambition are the only failure modes we truly fear.

We’re constantly evaluating our progress across three key areas: word-market fit, ensuring our message resonates with those in need; product-market fit, delivering on our promises in the most seamless way possible; and economic-market fit, ensuring our financial model aligns with our engaged customer segments. It’s all about staying humble, refining, adapting, and staying laser-focused on our mission.

And then Potential, can you share some challenges or barriers you had to overcome to create a Product / Service offering with potential?

As an early-stage consumer startup, our primary focus is meeting the challenge of reaching those who need us most. This presents an immense opportunity, considering the widespread prevalence of burnout, a global reach, the backdrop of growing concerns surrounding mental health in the workplace, and the surging popularity of meditation apps.

The concrete challenge is that tools like Burnout Score are invaluable allies for individuals seeking to reclaim control over their energy levels. Yet most people living with low energy have resigned themselves to just living with the problem until they reach a hair on fire moment. They’re not urgently engaged with trying to solve it.

Our success in overcoming this comes from messaging. It’s key to create that epiphany moment where it clicks that there’s a much more attractive alternative to the status-quo. Originally designed to beat burnout, Burnout Score empowers me and our early adopters to excel at work while still having energy to enjoy life outside of it.

Investment can often be a challenge for start-ups & scaleups. Do you have any piece of wisdom you could share around best approach?

Navigating investments for start-ups and scale-ups can indeed be a challenge. While I wouldn’t claim to have all the answers, having been on the investment side, I can offer a few insights.

Firstly, getting noticed is key, so leveraging warm introductions can be incredibly valuable. Secondly, understanding your investor audience and what they prioritise as critical success factors is crucial. And finally, having a clear ask and offer is vital. Any pitch should be supported by a compelling team and some evidence of traction in the market.

Participating in pitching competitions, accelerators and embracing feedback as invaluable insights can also be a great initial strategy. SetSquared & EngineShed support such events in the South West.