April Koh is the youngest woman running a multibillion-dollar startup.
@thisisinsider talked to 31 people close to the company, including former and current employees. Insiders say Koh’s inexperience and some missteps led employees to quit. 👇
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Koh started Spring Health at age 24 in her senior year at Yale after struggling with her own mental health.
The company offers therapy and coaching as a corporate benefit to clients including @GeneralMills, @PepsiCo, and @Instacart.
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By September of this year, the company was valued at $2 billion, with backing from Tiger Global.
Yet behind the impressive financial numbers is another, less cheery story.
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Some of Spring Health's employees said they experienced a pressure-cooker environment in which they worked nonstop and under close scrutiny.
Many told us they were worn down by what they described as a hard-driving, growth-at-all-costs approach.
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Employees describe Koh as a whip-smart, driven entrepreneur who was often first to clock in and last to leave.
But sources thought her lack of experience showed in the way she managed people.
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They recall Koh in small-group meetings disparaging employees who quit; lashing out at a staffer privately for creating a lackluster booth at a client's office during onboarding; and dressing down a recruiter before dismissing her in the office.
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At the same time, business has boomed during the pandemic, as more employers see value in mental-health benefits.
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One of the company’s stated values is "move fast." The takeaway, said a former employee, was that a failure to move fast was "jeopardizing" their customers' mental health.
Meanwhile, employees clocked 60 to 70 hours a week.
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Tensions were mounting by summer as people started returning to the office, sources said. Numerous employees said turnover started to get brought up in the company-wide "all-hands" meetings.
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Koh acknowledged the pace was difficult for some but said it was necessary to provide quality care.
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To be sure, burnout isn't a danger specific to Spring Health, or even to startups. Many more companies have wrestled with turnover through the "Great Resignation," the pandemic-era trend of employees leaving their jobs.
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But former employees of Spring Health said it took departures for Koh to create meaningful change.
In August, the executive team introduced initiatives meant to reduce burnout, according to memos seen by Insider. And in October, Koh owned up to burnout.
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