Using technology to show young people that their situation - whatever that situation may be - is a shared circumstance. And in that shared circumstance is community, and in that community is inspiration and hope.

1. YouBeYou is a mobile-optimized peer support platform for
teens and young adults to connect, support and inspire.
www.youbeyouapp.com
YOUBEYOU

2. Teens and young adults search for tools to deal with bullying, body image, depression, gender identity, addiction and
more. Few tools are optimized for how they search for, consume and disseminate information, interact with peers,
and solve problems.
BlogsWebsitesSchool CounselorsIn-person Group MeetingsScholary ArticlesPamphlet
INADEQUATE SUPPRORT
PDF
THE PROBLEM
THE RESULTS
FRUSTRATION
HOPELESSNESS
SCARED
ISOLATION
ALONE

3. YOUBEYOU
INTRODUCING

4. YouBeYou is a peer support platform harnessing the power of swipe-to-match for the forces of good, not evil (well,
at least not just for hooking up)!
YOUBEYOU
OUR SOLUTION
Sign up anonymously or with
Facebook. You control what
you share with peers. Choose
your issue.
Select the issues that
currently impact your life so
that others can reach out and
help you.
Browse profiles of peers
facing the same issues. Swipe
right to connect. Swipe left to
move on.
Once you have connected, you
are able to chat. This is where
the magic happens -- You Are
Not Alone! Connect, Support,
Inspire!

5. ADDRESSABLE MARKET
160,000 students stay home from school every day due to bullying.
A bully is 6 times more likely to be incarcerated by the age of 24
28% of U.S. students in grades 6-12 experienced bullying
Suicide is the 2nd leading cause of death among young people ages 12-24
Suicide attempts are nearly two times higher among Black and Hispanic youth then White youth
SUICIDE
BULLYING & ABUSE
56,000,000
31,200,000 - 18-24 year olds
24,000,000 - 12-17 year olds
THE STATISTICS

6. Percent of youth who reported illicit drug use in:
LGBTQ
BODY IMAGE
87% of female characters age 10–17 on the most popular kids' TV shows are below average in weight.
95% of people with eating disorders are between the ages of 12 and 25.
Only 10% of people suffering from an eating disorder will seek professional help.
92% say they hear negative messages about being LGBTQ at school, online and from peers
26% say the biggest problems are not feeling accepted by their family, trouble/outcast status at school
and fear to be out/open.
DRUGS & ALCOHOL
8th Grade
8.5%
10th Grade
19.4%
12th Grade
25.5%

7. ENGAGE WITH TECHNOLOGY
HOW TEENS & YOUNG ADULTS
91% of teens go online from a mobile device
Boys 91% and girls 92%
White 90%, Black 100%, Hispanic 91%
Urban 89%, Suburban 93%, Rural 91%
Source: Benedict Evans

8. We envision a world where teens & young adults use mobile devices to connect,
support and inspire each other and to progress from feelings of isolation, insecurity
or misunderstanding as they face life's challenges to inclusion, concurrence and
acceptance.
OUR VISION

9. Abilitytoreachpeople
Communication optimised for teens
Books Office Visits Hotlines Websites Twitter Facebook Instagram Snapchat
AA/NA
SOCIAL SERVICES
PDF’s
BIG BROTHERS BIG SISTERS
UNITEDWAY
BOYS AND GIRLS
CLUBS WEBMD
NOH8
TMH.ORG
RECOVERY RECORD
STOP IT!
IT GETS BETTER
WHISPER
YOUBEYOU OUTREACH
REACH-TO-TECH

10. Jen Proctor
Co-founder
Talent Executive at
Embassy Row;
formerly Hallmark
Channel, CAA and ICM.
USC, BA in
Communication &
Journalism
Andrea Rivera
Co-founder
Former Executive,
ABCNews.Press
Secretary, Sen. John
McCain.
Communications, Meg
Whitman for Governor.
Pepperdine, BA
Co-founder
Megan McCain
Advisor
Callum Notman
Director of Design &
Founder at Ionyx
Innovation, Manchester
Metropolitan University
(BSc Economics)
CEO
Michael Rivera
6th Street Ventures,
founder: Angel investor,
advisor, mentor. Westside
Trading Company,
Founder/COO (exited).
Penn State Law School,
JD; Georgetown, BA
THE TEAM
Fox News Channel,
iheartRadio/Premiere
Network, Participant
Media, The Daily
Beast, MSNBC, GLAAD
Board Member,
author. Columbia
University.

11. Raising $250,000 for 12-month ramp.
April 2016
SEED ROUND
Product Development (Tech)$125,000
$20,000
$36,000
$48,000
$15,000
$6,000
QA
Community Management/Design-UI/UX
Marketing/Targeted PR (User Acquisition)
Legal & Accounting
Other/Admin
MVP Completed. Start closed
beta testing
June 2016
Start open beta testing. Close
Seed round
August 2016
Soft launch of YouBeYou V1.0 QA.
Early Strategic Partnerships
January 2017
Begin Series A Riase
September 2016
Public Launch of YouBeYou.
Marketing & Targeted PR for
User Acquisition

12. OUR APP
2016 MVP

13. www.youbeyouapp.com

14. Defining Peer Support
APPENDIX A

15. Peer support is the term commonly used today to describe a helping relationship based on shared experiences where at
least one person has recovered or is in recovery. SAMHSA defines peer support as “mutual support— including the sharing
of experiential knowledge, and skills, and social learning,” which “plays an important and invaluable role in recovery. Residents
encourage and engage each other in recovery and provide each other with a sense of belonging, supportive relationships,
valued roles, and community” (SAMHSA, 2006, p. 1).
Peers share with one another their experiences, their strengths, and their hope—a powerful combination for
recovery” (TDMHDD, 2010, p. 194).
The International Association of Peer Supporters (iNAPS) specifically includes youth in their definition of peer support. iNAPS
states that peer support is “casual, intermittent, volunteer and informal support from one who has had the same or similar
experiences in a broad range of settings.
Mead and colleagues (2001) define peer support as a process of giving and receiving that is based on three key principles:
Mead goes on to say, “Peer support is…about understanding another’s situation empathically through the shared experience
of emotional and psychological pain. When people find affiliation with others [whom] they feel are ‘like’ them, they feel a
connection. This connection, or affiliation, is a deep, holistic understanding based on mutual experience where people are
able to ‘be’ with each other without the constraints of traditional (expert/patient) relationships” (Mead, Hilton, & Curtis, 2001,
p. 7).
Respect
Shared Responsibility
And mutual agreement of what is helpful

16. And helps with personal recovery (Solomon, 2004
Peer supporters often benefit personally from the work that they do. Providing a valued service:
In fact, a study in Belgium found that providing peer support was more beneficial than receiving it (Bracke,
Christiaens, & Verhaeghe, 2008).
MacNeil and Mead (2003) presented standards for peer support developed by peer support providers, traditional service
providers, and people who accessed support services. Seven standards were identified:
Mead, Hilton, and Curtis (2001) have further elaborated that peer support is “a system of giving and receiving help founded on key
principles of respect, shared responsibility, and mutual agreement of what is helpful” (p. 135). Through the process of offering
“support, companionship, empathy, sharing, and assistance,” “feelings of loneliness, rejection, discrimination, and frustration”
frequently encountered by persons…are countered (Stroul, 1993; p. 53).
PEER SUPPORT/PEER PROVIDED SERVICES UNDERLYING PROCESSES, BENEFITS, AND CRITICAL INGREDIENTS
Peer support promotes CRITICAL LEARNING and re-naming of experiences.
The culture of peer support provides a sense of COMMUNITY.
There is great FLEXIBILITY in the kinds of support provided by peers.
Peer support activities, meetings, and conversations are INSTRUCTIVE.
There is MUTUAL RESPONSIBILITY across peer relationships.
Peer support is being clear about and SETTING LIMITS.
Peer support involves sophisticated levels of SAFETY.
Impacts personal self-esteem
Increases confidence

17. Mead, Hilton, and Curtis (2001) have further elaborated that peer support is “a system of giving and receiving help
founded on key principles of respect, shared responsibility, and mutual agreement of what is helpful” (p. 135).
Through the process of offering “support, companionship, empathy, sharing, and assistance,” “feelings of
loneliness, rejection, discrimination, and frustration” frequently encountered by persons…are countered (Stroul,
1993; p. 53).
Salzer and his associates (2002) describe five theories that underlie peer delivered services:
Social support,
Experiential knowledge,
Social learning theory,
Social comparison theory, and
Helper-therapy principle.
Social Support is the “availability of people on whom we can rely: people who let us know that they care about,
value, and love us” and are willing to assist us to meet our resource and psychosocial needs (Sarason, Levine,
Basham & Sarason, 1983).
Experiential knowledge tends to be unique and pragmatic, and may be specific to one’s circumstances. However,
when the information is combined with others who share a similar problem, common elements regarding both
problems encountered and their resolution emerge (Shubert & Borkman, 1994).
Peers who interact with peers with positive outcomes enhance their own sense of self-efficacy in dealing with their
illness, its ramifications, and with the treatment system. Peers who have confidence in coping with their illness are
more hopeful and optimistic about their future (Salzer & associates, 2002).

18. Social comparison theorizes that individuals are attracted to others who share commonalities with themselves,
such as a similar psychiatric illness, in order to establish a sense of normalcy for themselves (Festinger, 1954). By
interacting with others who are perceived to be better than them, peers are given a sense of optimism and
something to strive toward. This upward comparison is considered to provide other peers with an incentive to
develop their skills and to offer them hope. In contrast, downward comparison to those who seem so much worse
off than themselves puts in perspective how bad things could be for themselves (Salzer & associates, 2002).
Skovholt (1974) summarized the personal benefits derived from effectively helping others: 1) the helper feels an
enhanced sense of interpersonal competence from making an impact on another’s life; 2) the helper feels that she/
he has gained as much as she/he has given to others; 3) the helper receives “personalized learning” from working
with others, and 4) the helper acquires an enhanced sense of self from the social approval received for those
helped. With this positive feedback and affirmation of themselves, they are in a better position to help others.
Peer support/peer provided services proffer a mechanism for serving individuals in need of mental health services,
but who are alienated from the traditional mental health system (Segal et al., 1998). For example, persons who are
homeless or others who have had negative experiences with traditional mental health services or, for whatever
reason, are opposed to using the traditional mental health system may find these peer provided services more
acceptable. Persons who have experienced similar situations as these peers may be far more effective in engaging
these individuals into mental health services or peer providers may be more effective in working with these
individuals (Segal et al., 1998).
Benefits to the Mental Health Service Delivery System: