# S12E8: Direct-to-Consumer Pioneer to AI Psychology with Neil Parikh, Co-Founder of Casper and Slingshot

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-room-podcast-3398569/s12e8-direct-to-consumer-pioneer-to-ai-psychology-with-neil-parikh-co-founder-of-casper-and-slingshot
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-room-podcast-3398569/s12e8-direct-to-consumer-pioneer-to-ai-psychology-with-neil-parikh-co-founder-of-casper-and-slingshot.md
Podcast: [The Room Podcast](https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-room-podcast-3398569)
Published: 2025-05-27T12:00:00+00:00
Episode link: https://the-room.castos.com
Audio file: https://pscrb.fm/rss/p/cdn.simplecast.com/audio/cf6dc480-9dd7-4da5-8aa6-0ccf203be4b8/episodes/5dae3c6a-aca4-4132-ac67-82c2bcf144a5/audio/d2c2d0f3-f4f2-49d4-b85f-f68891bdf92f/default_tc.mp3?aid=rss_feed&feed=aPz9Qkq6
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Duration seconds: 2924

## Resource

In this season’s finale of The Room Podcast, we're thrilled to chat with Neil Parikh, Co-Founder of Casper and current Co-Founder of Slingshot. Neil first disrupted the mattress industry by building Casper into a household name, pioneering the direct-to-consumer sleep revolution before taking the company public. Now, he's tackling an even bigger challenge with Slingshot, building a foundational AI model specifically designed for psychology and mental health therapy. In this episode, Neil takes us through his unconventional journey from medical school dropout to D2C pioneer, sharing the serendipitous moments that led to Casper's creation and the harsh realities of going public during a pandemic. We delve into the mental health crisis facing society, the limitations of current AI therapy approaches, and how Slingshot is training models on real-world human therapy data to create more effective interventions. Neil also opens up about his therapy journey, the power of taking nudges when they appear, and why he believes we're entering an era of unprecedented change that will reshape how we think about mental health access and self-actualization.

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## Transcript

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