During the summer of 2018, while living in Amsterdam in my apartment, I would lie awake every night. Staring at the ceiling, I remember thinking that I would lose my job, my fiancée, finances, friendships—everything I had in my life—and everything I had in my life could collapse and disappear. It felt like everything was going wrong.
I told the GP that I keep on making mistakes that I shouldn’t, and I’ve lost some confidence. My Dutch GP looked at me and laughed and said, “Dom, have you considered you have adult ADHD?”.
Three weeks later, I was diagnosed and prescribed medication, but the real treatment was 9 months of 1:1 ADHD Cognitive Behavioural Therapy. It’s difficult to put into words the relief and excitement at having a clear answer to explain everything that was going wrong in my life. I felt very lucky.
The catalyst was when a friend who ran an ADHD clinic for the NHS in London told me there was a 24-month waiting list to see him. He doesn't have the resources to give people the treatment they need, and every two weeks, he visits youth offender prisons and diagnoses these kids with ADHD. At that point, I decided to try and help an overwhelmed ADHD care system.
Tell us about the business – what it is, what it aims to achieve, who you work with, how you reach customers and so on.
Ultimately, we help you regain control of your attention.
Cog ADHD is an ADHD care system that offers high-quality support for both people with ADHD and those who provide support. Our mobile app teaches you about ADHD and how to manage your symptoms, and we have a platform with specialist Cognitive Behavioural experts (therapists, coaches, and more) who can guide you every step of the way.
4 steps to managing ADHD:
- Learn proven ADHD systems
- Track your symptoms and learn what works for you
- Celebrate your daily wins
- Connect with experts as and when you need
Our ADHD program is inspired by research conducted by Harvard Medical School and other institutions, and we use our specialist design language to make ADHD help ADHD-friendly!
How has the business evolved since its launch?
What started off as an idea is now a thriving business. Our soft launch was a year ago as an iOS app and basic therapy booking service. Since our official launch in August 2024, we have a fully-fledged App experience on both iOS and Android and a built-in Cog Clinic delivering the tools and systems required to regain your attention through research-proven by Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital to thousands of people struggling with their ADHD every day to people all over the world.
Our first Annual Subscriber was a lady in her 40s from Australia who has been using the app since we soft-launched a year ago!
Tell us about the working culture at Cog ADHD
Our team is proudly neurodiverse and passionate about helping our customers. Through a genuine ambition to help people who cannot access the help we need, work is challenging and feel-good. We’re proud of our purpose, and we support each other every day.
How are you funded?
I can proudly say that we are a bootstrapped business. I was fortunate enough to have a good career as a Data Analyst and used these skills and contact networks to help support the build of the app and clinic.
Our day-to-day operations are currently funded by a mix of part-time volunteers and revenue generated by the business.
However, we are looking into business grants and will look to open up conversations with potential investors in 2025.
What has been your biggest challenge so far and how have you overcome this?
Managing my ADHD while being my own boss - it’s much easier when you have someone to tell you what to do and when to show up each day!
How does Cog ADHD answer an unmet need?
We automate admin for clinicians. This need is unmet as 2 in 5 clinicians have experienced burnout, and many of our interviews showed that the administrative burden around session hours plays a key part.
We also feel that generic “mental health” solutions don’t quite meet the specific requirements of an ADHD case; specific knowledge and experts are required. We offer that to our customers.
What’s in store for the future?
Our approach will always be human-centric, but AI will enable automation and personalisation that will make managing symptoms consistently more possible than ever.
What one piece of advice would you give other founders or future founders?
Ask for help and advice as much as you can. Once you have your vision, find like-minded people to go on the journey with you.
And finally, a more personal question! What’s your daily routine and the rules you’re living by at the moment?
Controlling my attention takes a lot of effort and sacrifice. I only have bread and coffee on weekends, exercise every two days, and journal my priorities. I write down 1-2 priorities for the day and use the Time Boxing method to execute them. You can't do everything at once, but if you complete one important priority every day, then you are on track.
Otherwise, I step back into impulsive mode. Rest, self-care, and prioritisation set up a good day. It sounds challenging, but it’s better than impulsive chaos, so it’s definitely worth it!
Dom Longford is the founder of Cog ADHD.
