The Two Founders Building a Company They Almost Didn't Start

About this episode

David Black and Heather Townsend share their journey from near misses in entrepreneurship to co-founding a mental health platform.

Before David Black and Heather Townsend became co-founders, they were people who almost did something — and didn't. Dave passed on buying a DC bar for $150,000 because he didn't know where to get financing. Heather built an earmuff company, had 500 pairs manufactured in China, and watched them arrive at her apartment. Years later, they met at UVA's Darden School of Business, reconnected during the pandemic, and built Cabana (yourcabana.com), a mental health platform designed to close the 11-year gap between when people start struggling and when they finally ask for help. In this episode, they talk about the scar tissue that prepared them for real entrepreneurship and the personal loss that made Dave obsessed with that statistic.

People in this episode

Guests: David Black, Heather Townsend

Topics covered

• entrepreneurship
• mental health
• founders' stories
• business challenges
• personal growth

Keywords

• entrepreneurship
• mental health
• founders
• business
• UVA Darden
• Cabana
• financing
• earmuffs
• pandemic

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Cabana, UVA's Darden School of Business

Places: DC, China

More episodes of Money Memories

• The 2 Founders Building the Company They Almost Didn't Start [VIDEO] · May 19, 2026 · 14 min
• She Earned More Investing Than at Her Job. Then Everything Changed. · May 6, 2026 · 17 min
• She Left a Six Figure Salary to Save Lives One Lap at a Time · March 25, 2026 · 20 min
• What My Mom Knew About Business That MBAs Don't · March 13, 2026 · 20 min
• The Housing Market Nobody Talks About · February 11, 2026 · 23 min
• From Nigeria to Wall Street: A Journey of Resilience and Financial Freedom [Archive Episode] · January 29, 2026 · 16 min