Stress Testing: How Added Customer Discovery Led A Budding Startup To Unexpected Growth

Originally published by BMNT ; authored by Ellen Chang

For one military helicopter medevac Commander, on-the-job stress is an understatement. He describes regular 72-hour shifts, falling asleep while operating a helicopter, and being in situations of persistent gunfire -- targeted at him. He has medically evacuated more than 6,000 Soldiers in multiple deployments, and has had to relieve medics who were mentally unfit to perform. He says he wishes he could have known and recognized the warning signs with his people and himself earlier.  “You don’t have to be ‘real done’ to take a break,” he says.

A budding startup out of Stanford is developing a solution that could help the medevac Commander and others in his shoes. Known as NeuroSmart, the team came together during a recent Hacking 4 Defense (H4D) cohort with a passion for measuring and reducing stress and stress impacts. During their H4D coursework, they began working with Army Research Lab to test and modify their concepts through the high-intensity environment of Army combat training. They ended the semester with a potential solution to stress measurement and management that could enhance one’s ability to think clearly and maintain optimal decision-making skills. Now they are on their way to launching an innovative startup. Here’s a look at their journey through the class and a summer cohort of the H4XLabs enterprise accelerator, which helped them expand their understanding of stress and stress management into multiple industries; reimagine the diverse applications for their products; and prepare to launch NeuroSmart.