Jasmine Schembri-Stothart: Building Tech For the World’s 1.3 Billion Teenagers - Luna

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Welcome back to The Startup Leap Newsletter—#RealTalk #RealLessons From Founders Who Took The Startup Leap 🚀

💡 This week, we’re spotlighting Jasmine Schembri-Stothart, co-founder of Luna, the wellbeing app revolutionising how teenage girls navigate their digital and personal worlds.

Since launching, Luna has earned the trust of over 100,000 teens offering expert-backed advice on health, wellbeing, and personal growth—all in a way that feels relatable and accessible.

With her roots in consulting and an MBA from Oxford, Jasmine brings the perfect mix of strategic know-how and a passion for making a real impact.

In this episode, we sit down with Jas to hear:

• How she made the leap from consulting to co-founding Luna (00:02:00),
  
  

• The scrappy beginnings—think prototypes held together with spreadsheets and school roadshows to validate their idea (00:14:00),
  
  

• The highs and lows of building a health-focused platform for teens in today’s digital-first world (00:26:30),
  
  

• How community-driven growth and smart partnerships became Luna’s secret sauce for scaling (00:38:00),

….and so much more!

Key takeaways:

TL;DR:

• Launch fast with limited resources; the feedback is more valuable than perfection.

• Grassroots efforts and user-generated content can drive authentic, scalable growth.

• Use experiments and metrics to validate decisions and refine your strategy.

• 💡 Scrappiness Can Build a Foundation (00:16:00):
  
  Jas and her co-founder Jo started Luna with a modest £20,000 grant.
  
  They used no-code tools like Adalo and collaborated with medics providing free content to assemble an early, scrappy version of their app.
  
  Though the product was rough—pieced together with Excel, YouTube, and emails—it validated their idea by gaining their first 100 teenage users.
  
  If resources are limited, don’t wait for perfection… Launch a scrappy version to test your idea and gather real-world feedback.
  
  Your early users won’t expect perfection—they’ll value the solution you’re trying to create.
  
  

• 🚀 Growth Through Community-Driven Content (00:22:00):
  
  Luna’s growth strategy combined grassroots efforts and creative content.
  
  They kicked off with school roadshows, presenting Luna to students, which helped secure their first 2,000 users.
  
  Next, they rolled out referral programs and experimented with TikTok content.
  
  The breakthrough? User-generated videos from teens showcasing their personal experiences with Luna.
  
  Growth strategies don’t have to be expensive. Build your community authentically by meeting users where they are.
  
  

• 🎯 Building with Validation and Data (00:22:25):
  
  Every decision at Luna was backed by data or feedback.

  
  Whether it was introducing a referral program or experimenting with TikTok content, Jas and Jo constantly tested ideas to see what worked.
  
  Track metrics and run small experiments.
  
  Build a system of continuous iteration that helps you double down on strategies that work and pivot away from those that don’t.
  
  

Want to hear more? Dive into the full conversation on YouTube, Spotify or Apple Podcasts!

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Resources to help you take the Leap📚

🎯The Ultimate 7-Step GTM Framework for Startups

🚀Value Creation Explained

📚The Mark Zuckerberg Interview

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TSL Team 💜