Stephen Hays is the founder of What If Ventures, a Dallas-based venture firm that primarily invests. See portfolio, sector focus and contact routes.
Stephen Hays is the founder of What If Ventures, a Dallas-based venture firm that primarily invests in **seed-stage** startups within **mental health**, **addiction recovery**, and **disruptive healthcare**, with a distinctive thesis centered on addressing **stigmatized healthcare** issues [1][2][3]. His investment check sizes typically range from **$100K to $25M**, and he has deployed over **$100 million** across 86 startups via a syndicate of more than 4,100 investors [1][4]. Notable portfolio companies include **Alto Neuroscience** (which exited via a $147.9 million IPO), **Grow Therapy**, **Atai Life Sciences**, and **Firehawk Aerospace** [4][5][6]. Hays explicitly favors the seed stage because he believes he adds the most value to founders at that early point in their development [2].
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