Episode 26
Anjali Raja Beharelle - Path from academia into entrepreneurship, and how Collabree helps people to make lasting habit changes thanks to behavioral economics
October 8th, 2021
47 mins 6 secs
Tags
About this Episode
Dr. Anjali Raja Beharelle is the CSO (Chief Science Officer) and one of the founders of collabree.com. Collabree is a Swiss eHealth / digital adherence start-up focusing on improving therapy compliance of chronically ill patients by applying behavioural economics principles. Collabree is helping patients to make lasting behavioral changes and stick to their therapy regimen by combining human engagement with scalable algorithms and using the most relevant gamification factors: fun, friends and feedback.
Anjali is responsible for the clinical track and integrating insights from behavioral economics and neuroscience into the app. Before founding Collabree, Anjali worked as a neuroscientist. Her research focused on the neuro(chemical) and behavioral components of decision making between short-term and long-term rewards (e.g. should I have a candy bar or some broccoli) and how to optimize these decisions.
We discuss:
- How behavioral economics can help us to make long-lasting positive habit changes
- Taking the leap from Academia into the world of startups
- Why medication adherence is so important
- Collabree’s mission and future plans
- Tips for forming habits
Show notes:
- 03:41 -- Intro of Anjali
- 04:19 -- Why Anjali decided to leave academia and to join a startup
- 05:38 -- Anjali’s academic research focus and how it links to her role at Collabree
- 08:55 -- How Anjali joined Collabree / found her co-founders
- 10:45 -- What is Collabree’s mission and what problem is the startup trying to solve
- 15:52 -- Development status of Collabree
- 17:18 -- More info about the Collabree app
- 17:36 -- Deep dive into scientific results from behavioral economics and how it can help us to form healthier habits
- 22:15 -- Pricing model of Collabree
- 24:26 -- Broader focus of Collabree - healthy habits
- 25:19 -- Deep dive into what habits are and habit formation from a scientific perspective
- 31:11 -- Practical & actionable tips for forming positive habits
- 34:49 -- Future plans for Collabree and status of fundraising
- 37:04 -- Learnings from switching from academia to the world of startups
- 40:43 -- Anjali’s favorite book
- 42:43 -- Role model of Anjali
- 43:35 -- Advice to your younger self
- 44:28 -- What courage means to Anjali
- 45:09 -- How to find out more about Collabree
Please follow me on Instagram, Twitter, and my Website, where I post new episodes and share resources & tips for anyone interested in entrepreneurship in Europe.
Sign-up for the mailing list to stay in the loop!
If you're enjoying the podcast, the best way to support the show is by leaving a review on Apple Podcast or in your favorite podcast app.
Support Leap TakersEpisode Links
- Collabree Website
- Collabree Blog
- Collabree LinkedIn
- Oliver Sacks, M.D., Author, Neurologist | Official Website | On The Move, Hallucinations, Musicophilia, Awakenings, The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat
- Universitätsspital Basel
- Behavioral economics
- Present bias
- Loss aversion
- Endowment effect
- Common neural value representations of hedonic and utilitarian products in the ventral striatum: An fMRI study | Scientific Reports
- Habit Formation
- The Habit Loop
- Atomic Habits: Tiny Changes, Remarkable Results by James Clear
- Philip Seymour Hoffman
- Professor Wendy Wood > USC Dana and David Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences
- A Prayer for Owen Meany - John Irving
- Jocelyn Bell Burnell