Meet the Silicon Valley Millionaire’s Club That Wants to Control the Psychedelic Industry

My colleagues and I at the psychedelic education nonprofit Psymposia spent the last year investigating the financial and political forces shaping the psychedelic industry. Initially, we wanted to inform the public about the forces attempting to shape the Food and Drug Administration’s 2024 decision on the drug MDMA, but our work soon evolved into a broader investigation of the influences and motivations within the field as a whole. This research has culminated in a 201-page report released in four parts that is now available on our website.  

Drawing on hundreds of emails, transcripts, presentations and other primary materials, “The Psychedelic Syndicate: How Silicon Valley Used Veterans to Hijack the Psychedelic Industry” traces the rise of the Psychedelic Science Funders Collaborative and its extensive influence across the field. We dissect how the PSFC — a group consisting largely of Silicon Valley elites that include podcaster Tim Ferriss, SpaceX board members Antonio Gracias and Steve Jurvetson, GoDaddy founder Bob Parsons, Mark Zuckerberg’s college roommate Joe Green and more — brought the tech world ethos of “move fast and break stuff” to the psychedelic industry.

We detail how this group and its affiliate organizations conducted a strategic campaign to shape public perception in favor of Lykos Therapeutics’ failed MDMA-assisted therapy application and demonize its critics. The PSFC’s ultimate goal was to persuade the FDA to approve Lykos’ application, against the recommendation of its own advisory committee and numerous other professional organizations. This approval would have jump-started a psychedelic industry in which many of the PSFC’s members are financially invested, and expedite the privatization of psychedelic research and proliferation of intellectual property barriers.

Our analysis reveals the PSFC’s efforts to circumvent federal regulatory structures and manipulate state-level policy development, transforming a community-led movement into a vehicle for centralized corporate influence.

The following Truthdig overview provides readers with a primer on the main characters directing the PSFC, the organization at the heart of Psymposia’s reporting. These individuals have been inserted into prominent positions on the boards of high-profile psychedelic drug developers and promoters, including the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS) and its spinoff pharmaceutical company, Lykos Therapeutics. Additionally, PSFC members occupy leadership roles in organizations advocating for changes in psychedelic policy, such as the New Approach PAC and the Healing Advocacy Fund. Through these platforms, they have shaped the priorities and strategies of the industry. 

Editor’s note: In August 2025, Lykos Therapeutics changed its name to Resilient Pharmaceuticals. Resilient has not announced any changes to its board of directors since changing its name from Lykos. This article is based on the last publicly available information about Lykos Therapeutics leadership.

Bob Jesse

Former PSFC board member; founder of the Council on Spiritual Practices 

Bob Jesse is a significant yet often overlooked figure in the resurgence of psychedelic research. He worked his way up the ranks of the early Silicon Valley tech scene to become a vice president at the computer technology company Oracle, before shifting his focus toward exploring the spiritual applications of psychedelics in the 1990s. In 1993, he founded the Council on Spiritual Practices, which sought to develop effective approaches for using psychoactive substances in spiritual contexts. 

Jesse’s work has been central to the modern psychedelic research movement — especially his collaboration with Roland Griffiths and Bill Richards at Johns Hopkins University. The 2006 study they co-authored, which examined the potential of psilocybin to induce profound mystical experiences, has been credited with lending credibility to psychedelics as tools for personal transformation and kick-starting the modern psychedelic renaissance. 

In 2017, Jesse helped establish the Psychedelic Science Funders Collaborative. Psymposia obtained an email from July of 2017 sent by Jesse to early PSFC members defining the group as a “funding collective” intent on advancing the psychedelic industry. Jesse’s early intentions for this collective were to promote and secure funds for psychedelic outlets like MAPS, Usona and Heffter Research Institute. 

Jesse resigned as a director of the PSFC in 2018, but remains a central figure in the world of psychedelic funding, research and influence.

Joe Green

PSFC co-founder and president; Lykos Therapeutics board member; MAPS board member

Joe Green, Mark Zuckerberg’s former college roommate, has built his career around leveraging technology to affect political change. 

Green helped Zuckerberg create Facemash, the controversial precursor to Facebook that allowed users to compare and rate the attractiveness of their peers. He went on to co-found Causes, a platform designed to mobilize grassroots organizers around political causes, and NationBuilder, a software company focused on political organizing. Green also co-founded FWD.us with Zuckerberg, a lobbying group focused on immigration reform and technological advancement. Green has made strategic investments in high-profile tech companies like Asana and Dropbox and he co-founded Lyft, positioning him as an influential figure in Silicon Valley’s venture capital ecosystem. While these ventures showcased Green’s focus on tech-based solutions, they also reflect his penchant for using digital platforms and tech world networks to influence public opinion and policy. In 2013, The New Yorker reported on a leaked 15-page plan written by Green that focused on “tapping Silicon Valley’s potential as a political force”:

“One section of the text listed several reasons that ‘people in tech’ could be organized into ‘one of the most powerful political forces,’ including, ‘Our voice carries a lot of weight because we are broadly popular with Americans,’” the magazine reported.

Green’s mindset about political influence would later shape his activities in the psychedelic space. As reported by Psymposia, the PSFC funded — to the tune of millions of dollars — astroturfed veterans organizations with the intent to pressure the FDA to approve MDMA-assisted therapies, even though the science was unsound. 

His venture capital-driven mindset permeated his involvement in psychedelics, where Green has played a major role in shaping the industry’s future through his leadership at the PSFC.

The PSFC has brought entrepreneurial and venture capital principles into a space traditionally driven by academic, scientific and nonprofit interests. As a board member of the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies — the organization originally conducting clinical trials on MDMA-assisted therapy — Green has further cemented his position of power in the psychedelic movement. As Psymposia reports, his efforts helped turn MAPS Public Benefit Corp. into a more traditional, investor-funded pharmaceutical company, called Lykos Therapeutics (later renamed Resilient Pharmaceuticals). Green also secured a seat on the board of Lykos after it was spun off from MAPS. 

Graham Boyd

PSFC co-founder and executive director; New Approach PAC executive director; Dr. Bronner’s political director

A graduate of Yale’s Law School, Graham Boyd has held many roles in legal advocacy and policy reform, particularly within the realms of drug law and philanthropy.

Boyd is the co-founder and executive director of the PSFC and executive director of the New Approach PAC, a political action committee focused on drug reform. With influence extending across both philanthropic and policy spheres, he has spearheaded multiple statewide initiatives, including the legalization of cannabis and the push for psilocybin therapy access. Boyd’s work has positioned him as a strategic orchestrator, guiding the field of psychedelic policy reform and leveraging his connections to high-net worth philanthropists to fund the movement.

Boyd has described the PSFC as a “field catalyst,” carefully arranging the “pieces” of the psychedelic movement to ensure that key players and initiatives are positioned for optimal use. His leadership in the PSFC and its symbiotic relationship with New Approach PAC effectively blends philanthropy with political lobbying. Discussing the intertwining relationships between organizations he is involved with during a 2025 panel discussion, Boyd explained:

“We’re [PSFC] a 501c3 — that means that we, at PSFC, do not do political work. But there is a related organization called New Approach, which I’m also the director of that, and that’s a 501c4, which did run both of those campaigns in Colorado and Oregon. Members of PSFC, as individual philanthropists, are also the main donors to those campaigns. So, the money that was necessary to run those campaigns. So it’s something that is — to use the overused term ‘adjacent’ — it is PSFC-adjacent, but not specifically a PSFC effort. The implementation, though, in Oregon and Colorado — building out the clinics, training people, the training centers, all of that — that’s very much right in the sweet spot of PSFC … and certainly part of what our donors support, often through PSFC.”

Boyd’s New Approach PAC has recently been at the center of campaign finance violation allegations for similar unethical overlap of organizations in Massachusetts. Whistleblowers contacted the Massachusetts Office of Campaign and Political Finance to allege that New Approach was unethically intertwined with a number of other advocacy organizations and political organizations, including Heroic Hearts Project, the Yes on 4 campaign and the Open Circle Alliance charity.

David Bronner

PSFC board member; MAPS board member; Dr. Bronner’s “cosmic engagement officer” (CEO)

David Bronner holds influential roles as a board member of the PSFC, CEO of soap maker Dr. Bronner’s and board member of MAPS. Under Bronner’s leadership, his soap company has expanded significantly, growing from $4 million in annual revenue in 1998 to $120 million by 2017. He has leveraged his position at Dr. Bronner’s to advocate for cannabis and psychedelic reform, funneling millions of dollars into organizations like MAPS and New Approach PAC. To aid in these political efforts, Bronner has employed the PSFC’s and New Approach PAC’s Graham Boyd as the political director of Dr. Bronner’s.

Over the years, Bronner has expressed support for controversial and abusive figures in the psychedelic ecosystem, such as Françoise Bourzat, who was exposed in 2021 for sexually abusing clients during psychedelic therapy. Months prior to this exposure, Bronner had described Bourzat as a “remarkable psilocybin therapist” and promoted her upcoming psychedelic facilitator training program. 

As reported by Psymposia, Bourzat was central to the PSFC’s plans for training psychedelic therapists in Oregon, where a bill was passed to legalize psilocybin therapy. The scandal surrounding Bourzat raises concerns about the lack of accountability and oversight within the rapidly expanding field, and specifically by the PSFC’s leadership. According to Psymposia’s reporting, PSFC members have provided hundreds of thousands of dollars in contributions to Bourzat’s school, the Center for Consciousness Medicine, dating back at least to 2020. And Boyd disclosed that he acted as a paid legal adviser for Bourzat’s school in 2021. 

This isn’t the only psychedelic practitioner scandal Bronner has been involved in. In 2022, Dr. Bronner’s became one of the first companies in the country to offer employees psychedelic-focused health care benefits — including ketamine-assisted therapy — through psychedelic benefits coordinator Enthea (where PSFC member Michael Cotton is an adviser). 

A wrongful death lawsuit filed against Dr. Bronner’s claims that an employee died of a drug overdose at a psychedelic session organized by Bronner, his wife and another employee from the company. Following a back injury, this employee was allegedly made to believe that the session was part of her Enthea company health care plan; but it was not. Instead, Bronner is alleged to have arranged a “ketamine massage” with an unlicensed masseuse who proceeded to give the employee a high dose of MDA (a drug similar to MDMA). Speaking with TV station KPBS about this lawsuit, one Dr. Bronner’s employee said that recreational drug use among the events team and certain executives is “common.” 

Bronner’s various roles uniquely position him to impact cannabis and psychedelic advocacy efforts. Despite having significant influence, Bronner’s support for controversial, unqualified figures like Bourzat or the unlicensed masseuse in the lawsuit highlights the challenges of navigating a rapidly evolving field where charismatic individuals can sometimes hide harmful actions. When figures like Bronner and his colleagues at the PSFC act as the centralized body deciding which projects and individuals to greenlight within the industry — and their judgment turns out to be incorrect — it can cause real-world harm.

Michael Cotton

PSFC board member; Enthea adviser

Michael Cotton is a health care executive who held the role of chief operating officer at Meridian Health, a multistate managed care provider. Cotton’s background is closely tied to his family’s involvement in health care management. His father, David Cotton, is an American billionaire and former owner and CEO of Meridian Health Plans. His mother, Shery Cotton, and his brothers also have held high-level positions at the company. In recent years, Cotton has extended his expertise to entrepreneurial ventures and advisory roles. He is currently an adviser to Enthea, a third-party administrator for health insurance plans focused on psychedelic medical treatments. (Dr. Bronner’s was one of Enthea’s first customers.) This position leverages his experience in health care operations and his growing involvement in the emerging psychedelic sector. As a board member of the PSFC, Cotton claims to be focused on advancing the research and integration of psychedelic treatments into medical practice.

Genevieve Jurvetson

PSFC board member; chair of PSFC’s Founders Circle

Genevieve Jurvetson’s career has spanned multiple sectors, beginning in investment banking and transitioning into the tech industry, where she co-founded the AI-powered recruiting platform, Fetcher. Jurvetson shifted her focus to philanthropy through the Jurvetson Foundation, which claims to fund “moonshot” initiatives aimed at addressing mental health challenges. She has become a prominent figure in the psychedelic space as a board member of the PSFC and chair of the collective’s Founders Circle, made up of donors who have provided more than $1 million to the psychedelic field. As reported by Psymposia, she has been an ardent supporter of the organization, hosting high-profile events at her Bay Area home — “Casa Jurvey by the Sea” — to celebrate the PSFC’s organizational milestones. 

Following the FDA’s rejection of Lykos Therapeutics’ MDMA-assisted therapy application in 2024, Jurvetson was a vocal leader — alongside PSFC-funded veterans nonprofits — in a disinformation campaign blaming the decision on external parties such as Psymposia and the Institute for Clinical and Economic Review, despite clear evidence of clinical trial shortcomings that contributed to the rejection. In September of 2025, the FDA released its complete response to Lykos Therapeutics, which further contradicted Jurvetson’s claims about Psymposia’s and ICER’s influence.

Rather than acknowledging the legitimate challenges faced by Lykos Therapeutics, Jurvetson has helped frame the issue as a political battle against “radical leftists” who she falsely claims oppose treatments for veterans. She has increasingly appealed directly to the Trump administration to overturn the FDA’s rejection throughout 2025.

Dan Grossman

PSFC board member; Lykos Therapeutics board member

Dan Grossman serves as a board member for the PSFC and Lykos Therapeutics. His professional background includes over 20 years at Boston Consulting Group, where he was managing director and senior partner, focusing on corporate strategy, pipeline development and commercialization within the health care sector — particularly in neuroscience. In his role at the PSFC, Grossman has been described as being involved in building the infrastructure for the psychedelic industry and shaping policy within the field.

Suprotik (Protik) Basu

PSFC board member; Helena Special Investments managing partner; Lykos Therapeutics board member 

Protik Basu has had a varied career that spans private finance, philanthropy and public policy. He is currently the managing partner of Helena Special Investments, a firm that says it addresses societal issues through a mix of for-profit, nonprofit and legislative actions. Helena’s investment arm claims to back companies tackling global challenges, including those related to mental health. 

Basu’s connections to the psychedelic industry are primarily through his roles with the PSFC and Lykos Therapeutics. In 2023, his private equity firm, Helena, led a $100 million Series A funding round for Lykos, which was working to commercialize MDMA-assisted therapy. Basu was given a seat on Lykos’ board following this investment round. Basu’s academic background includes degrees from Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, where he currently serves as chair of the advisory board. His role in funding psychedelic developments — particularly as an investor in Lykos, which had previously rejected the idea of private investment — is illustrative of the increasing role of private capital in shaping the development of psychedelic therapies.

Ron Beller

PSFC founding member; Lykos Therapeutics board member 

Ron Beller has a background in banking and finance, having served as a partner at Goldman Sachs. He later founded Peloton Partners, a hedge fund that peaked at $3 billion in assets under management and was one of the top-performing hedge funds in Europe in 2007. Beller has become increasingly involved in the psychedelics space, where he has held leadership positions at multiple organizations. He is a founding member of the PSFC, and claims to have been a close adviser to senior executives at MAPS in his role as an executive coach. He has also served on the board of MAPS Israel. His ties to MAPS extend to his current position on the board of Lykos Therapeutics. Beller also claims to be a trained psychedelic integration guide.

Steve Jurvetson

PSFC member and mega-donor; SpaceX board member; Future Ventures co-founder

Steve Jurvetson is an American billionaire venture capitalist known for his early investments in companies such as SpaceX, Tesla, Planet Labs and Memphis Meats. He co-founded the venture capital firm Future Ventures and was previously a partner at Draper Fisher Jurvetson. He has also served as a presidential ambassador for Global Entrepreneurship under President Barack Obama, and claims to be a close friend of Elon Musk.

Jurvetson’s connection to the psychedelic industry became more prominent through his financial support of MAPS and his involvement in its fundraising efforts. He participated in the MAPS Capstone Fundraiser to support the completion of Phase 3 clinical trials for MDMA-assisted therapy. His wife, Genevieve Jurvetson, is also a board member of the PSFC. His firm, Future Ventures, is also an investor in psychedelic pharmaceutical company incubator atai Life Sciences.

One of Jurvetson’s biggest career controversies involved the drug he and the PSFC have championed. In 2017 — as reported in Emily Chang’s book “Brotopia” — Jurvetson was removed from DFJ following allegations of sexual harassment and misconduct at a professional party he hosted. The incident involved a gathering where MDMA was reportedly used inappropriately by one attendee to coerce another attendee into sexual acts. 

DFJ commented to Recode after Jurvetson’s departure in 2017, “We were dismayed to learn of behavior at the party [at Jurvetson’s property] that was completely at odds with DFJ’s culture which has been, and will continue to be, built on the values of respect and integrity.”

As detailed in Psymposia’s report, Jurvetson’s connection to psychedelics has also been marked by his vocal opposition to critics of the industry. Like his wife, Genevieve, he has participated in spreading misinformation against organizations like Psymposia and ICER, which he claims have hindered the FDA’s approval of MDMA-assisted therapy. 

Psymposia also reported on Jurvetson’s dystopian vision for the future of psychedelic therapy. Speaking to Spiriterritory, Jurvetson — who is an investor in Musk’s xAi, the parent company of X — explained that he believed that artificial intelligence therapists were an “obvious long-term solution” for the industry. 

“There’s no reason in the world that it needs to be a human in the room holding your hand for 24 to 48 hours,” Jurvetson said. He then described a future where AI would handle psychedelic therapy while untrained humans — “the lowest-cost labor you can imagine” — served as backup for physical emergencies.

Read Psymposia’s full report, “The Psychedelic Syndicate: How Silicon Valley Used Veterans to Hijack the Psychedelic Industry.”

All illustrations by Russell Hausfeld