In 2019, I hit a wall. I was working and building in the startup space, pushing hard, chasing momentum, and doing what ambitious people in this world are expected to do: keep going. But beneath the surface, things were falling apart. I eventually quit my job expecting clarity, space, and a fresh start. What followed instead was depression.

It forced me to face a truth that many founders only recognize once they are already deep in it: high performance without real support is not sustainable. What helped me climb out was not a single breakthrough or sudden insight. It was a system I had to build for myself. I found one professional coach who challenged the way I thought, worked, and made decisions. I brought in a health coach who helped me understand my physiology, my energy, my sleep, and the patterns that were quietly undermining my performance. That small but intentional support structure became the turning point. It did not just help me recover, it helped me grow. My work accelerated. My clarity returned. My health stabilized. My life improved.

Through that experience, I realized something that should be obvious but rarely is in the founder world: performance is not about pushing harder, it is about being supported in the right ways. Founders do not need more hustle advice. They need structure, insight, and a system that integrates coaching, health, and data into the reality of building something from nothing.

lume is the platform I wish I had. It is the system that would have changed everything earlier. And now I am building it for others.

— Ari Gootnick, Co-founder & CEO