In this month’s Founder Spotlight, our partner Parul Singh sits down with George Wang, CEO of Stellar Sleep, a company that offers a digital program designed to support individuals with chronic insomnia.

Here is a slightly edited version of their full conversation.

Q: Tell us a little about your background and what led you to founding Stellar Sleep.

A: I have a background in healthcare. I graduated with a degree in biology, previously worked in precision medicine research, and was a consultant at McKinsey in their healthcare practice.

My journey to becoming a founder started out of a personal pain point. I started getting very bad insomnia after getting promoted at McKinsey to engagement manager. That role meant that I would be the person in charge of our consulting teams, and I started putting a lot of pressure on myself to make sure I didn’t let down my team or our clients.

Sleep was always something important to me, so I made sure to carve out seven hours per night in bed every night, but I ended up only spending four or five hours asleep every night. When I went to bed, my mind would race with thoughts about unfinished tasks, new tasks I needed to assign to team members, how different pieces of data fit together, etc. Even after I fell asleep, I would wake up early in the middle of the night — and my mind would continue racing with those thoughts.

Luckily, most of my team members were MDs or PhDs, so they were able to unofficially diagnose me with chronic insomnia and told me that the best way to treat that was something called CBT-I.

Armed with that knowledge, I went around to different CBT-I providers in the area but kept getting turned away — with providers telling me that they either weren’t accepting new patients or had at least a three- to six-month-long waiting list.

In desperation, knowing that I couldn’t wait three to six months for treatment, I took a course to become certified as a sleep therapist — specifically, a certification in CBT-I, which stands for Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia — thought to be the most effective way to treat chronic insomnia. I’m not a trained psychologist, but I used the methods on myself, and they worked when nothing else had — it changed my life.

That’s when I launched into a journey of understanding all the psychological causes of insomnia and came to a realization that much of the popular discourse out there around how to improve sleep was wrong or out of date. Sleep medicine providers and behavioral sleep medicine research have already shown for the past eight years that the best way to treat insomnia is through identifying the psychological root causes and treating those — but most of the conventional wisdom and popular discourse around improving sleep focus on surface-level/superficial advice.

That’s when I decided to partner with my cofounder, Edrei, and start a company to bring best-in-class sleep care to as many people as we could.

Q: What challenges did you face in starting Stellar? Why had this never been done before?

A: One of the biggest challenges we faced in starting Stellar Sleep was the need for education. Most people suffering from chronic sleep problems had already tried numerous solutions on the market. When you can’t sleep for three nights per week for three months or longer — the definition of chronic insomnia — that suddenly becomes the most important problem in your life. Unfortunately, many of the solutions chronic insomniacs try out only suggest superficial fixes like cutting coffee or trying meditation. While that can be a part of good sleep habits, research shows that for chronic insomnia, that is far from enough.

We had to help people understand that what we were offering was completely different from anything they had tried before. Our program goes beyond surface-level advice by diving into the root psychological causes of their sleep issues and addressing them at the core. This educational effort was crucial to gaining customer trust and demonstrating that our solution was something that, for the first time, would dive into the root causes of their sleep issues and finally give them relief.

Q: Tell us about the science behind treating chronic insomnia.

A: Stellar Sleep uses psychology to understand the real root causes of chronic insomnia. We start by understanding a person’s immediate sleep-related challenges and providing them with practical strategies for dealing with them. Then, we drill down on the underlying psychological drivers of a person’s chronic insomnia and create a personalized program to manage those drivers one by one.

Q: How does Stellar Sleep impact patients with chronic insomnia, and what impact do you hope to have on mental health overall?

A: Stellar Sleep has a profound impact on people with chronic insomnia. Many of our users have shared that, for the first time in years or even decades, they’ve found something that finally allows them to sleep. The inability to sleep is incredibly debilitating — it’s difficult to truly grasp how it can affect every aspect of life until you’ve experienced it yourself. Now, imagine not being able to sleep and trying everything with no success for years. These are the people who are finally getting their lives back because of Stellar Sleep.

Beyond just improving sleep, our program addresses the root psychological causes of poor sleep, which are deeply intertwined with mental health. By helping people achieve better sleep, we’re also contributing to their overall mental resilience, making them more equipped to handle stress and maintain a better quality of life. Our broader goal is to have a significant impact on mental health, creating a healthier, more resilient population through the foundational pillar of restorative sleep.

Q: How does the responsible use of AI potentially impact mental health care, especially given the shortage of trained sleep therapists?

A: The thoughtful use of AI in mental health care can have tremendously positive benefits. The ideal scenario for personalized sleep therapy would involve a sleep therapist or doctor checking in with you daily, reviewing your previous night’s data, and charting a path forward. However, this level of individualized attention is not feasible on a large scale, especially given the current shortage of sleep therapists.

This is where AI can play a supportive role. By analyzing sleep patterns, behaviors, and other relevant data, AI can provide tailored recommendations and real-time adjustments that help approximate the guidance one might receive from a therapist. While AI is not a replacement for human care, it can help extend the reach of available resources, ensuring that more people receive effective, personalized support for their sleep issues in the absence of sufficient human resources.

Q: What have been the biggest challenges while scaling the company?

A: One of the biggest challenges we’ve faced while scaling the company has been educating the market about how our approach to improving sleep is fundamentally different from what people typically think of, such as sleep hygiene or meditation. Many people with chronic insomnia have already tried these common suggestions — like maintaining a consistent bedtime, avoiding caffeine, or using meditation apps — and found that while these tactics might help a little, they aren’t enough to solve their deeper sleep problems.

Our biggest hurdle has been getting the word out that Stellar Sleep isn’t just another sleep hygiene guide or meditation tool. While those approaches can be helpful as part of a broader strategy, they often fall short for those dealing with chronic insomnia. What we offer is a comprehensive, research-backed program that addresses the psychological root causes of someone’s poor sleep, going far beyond superficial fixes.

This educational effort is crucial because many potential users are understandably skeptical — they’ve already tried what they believe to be all the usual solutions. Helping them understand that there’s a more effective, deeply personalized approach available, and that it’s different from anything they’ve tried before, has been a key focus as we scale. Overcoming these preconceived notions and clearly communicating the unique value of our program is essential to building trust and driving adoption.

Q: It’s incredibly brave for you to talk about insomnia and mental health at work. Has that been challenging or liberating, and what gave you that courage?

A: Talking about my own struggles with insomnia has been both challenging and liberating. On one hand, it’s difficult to open up about something so personal, especially in a professional setting where admitting struggles, especially with sleep, can feel like a vulnerability (not to mention the fact that even up until half a decade ago, not sleeping was glorified in many workplaces). There’s always the fear of being misunderstood or judged, especially when insomnia isn’t often recognized for how deeply it can affect one’s life and work. However, it’s also been incredibly liberating because sharing my experience has helped break down some of the misconceptions about insomnia and allowed me to connect with others who are quietly dealing with the same issues.

What gave me the courage to speak out was my own battle with insomnia and the realization of just how much it was impacting my performance, well-being, and overall quality of life. I knew that if I was struggling this much, others were likely going through it too, often in silence and often feeling like they’re alone. By talking about it, I wanted to normalize the conversation around sleep issues and encourage others to seek help without feeling ashamed or alone. The more I shared, the more I found that many people I knew were also dealing with sleep problems, and that gave me the confidence to keep the conversation going. Ultimately, by talking about my own experience with insomnia, I hope to let all the insomniacs out there know that you’re not alone (even if it feels that way when you’re awake at 3 a.m. and the whole world seems to be asleep), raise awareness about the fact that there is something you can do about your poor sleep, and inspire others to take their sleep health seriously.

Q: What advice would you give to other founders looking to build mental health companies?

A: When building a mental health company, it’s crucial to stay patient-centered and focus on creating a product that is clinically beneficial, not just engaging. In the mental health space, it’s easy to get caught up in metrics like user engagement and growth, but these don’t necessarily equate to real, lasting impact. Your primary goal should be to develop a solution that genuinely helps people improve their mental health in meaningful, ideally clinically measurable ways. This means grounding your product in solid clinical evidence and continuously testing and refining it to ensure it’s truly effective for your users.

Additionally, be prepared to face stigma and resistance. Mental health is still surrounded by misconceptions and biases, so you might encounter skepticism from potential users, investors, or within the broader market. It’s crucial to be patient and persistent in educating others about the value of your product and the importance of mental health care. As a mental health founder, you have to realize that you can’t just force society to no longer have this stigma. Instead, you find ways to communicate the impact of what you’re doing in terms that resonate with your audience. By framing the conversation around the tangible benefits and consequences that matter to them, you can find common ground and help them see the value in what you’re offering. This approach not only helps in gaining support but also gradually shifts the narrative around mental health in general.

Q: What are you most excited about this upcoming year?

A: This upcoming year, I’m incredibly excited about the research we have planned around insomnia, psychology, and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia (CBT-I). We’re in a unique position as an organization, seeing tens of thousands of people with sleep issues every year. This puts us at the forefront of understanding and addressing the factors leading to poor sleep, and we’re also leading the way in providing the most personalized and customized sleep programs, tailored to the underlying psychological factors affecting each individual. This level of personalization is something we’re very proud of and is something that has never before been done at scale. Looking ahead, we’re eager to push the boundaries of sleep care by publishing our findings and driving continued innovation in the field.