So... you want to work in women's health

I’m lucky to have worked and crossed paths with some of Europe’s “OG” femtech founders. So I now get asked about this a lot. Here's a few of my thoughts about how to get into women's health... or not

I’m lucky to have worked and crossed paths with some of Europe’s “OG” femtech founders. Women’s health fascinates me, and I’ve dedicated a lot of my time to trying to solve some of the many problems within it. As a result, my inbox is full of strangers asking me how to break into “femtech”.

It’s easy to see why people want to work in this space:

• the problems are huge, global, and generally lacking in solutions;

• many people have a personal (horror) story which gives them a fire in their belly;

• there are more exciting companies in this space than ever before….

I sadly don’t have the time to take many of the calls and intros I am asked for. Which is a shame, because I really really do want to help more excellent people to work in women’s health (my preferred term to ‘femtech’). So, this article provides a few tips on interviewing for, and being in, women's health startups. I hope my bluntness will not offend - please do leave a comment if it does.

It is not all about passion…

Your passion for women’s health will not make you stand out - your skills will. Don’t forget that when you’re interviewing.

Most people who interview for women’s health companies have some sort of interest in the topic. It’s easy to get passionate when women are dying at increasing rates from childbirth, or getting fired for their menopausal symptoms.

The most common mistake I’ve seen in interviews is that candidates spend far too much time trying to share their passion for ‘femtech’ with you, and not enough time demonstrating their skills. You’ve only got 30 minutes - use it wisely. It’s on you to communicate your skills in an interview - get to the point quickly, using good and relevant examples. Mention your passion, but don’t expect it to be unique. It won’t be... and it's certainly not the most important thing in an interview process.

If you do want to spend a lot of time talking about your passion, focus on user behaviours. Showing you deeply understand a potential customer/audience is probably the most relevant part of your passion.

Working hard, and being humble, really count

Women’s health is not the most well capitalised market. A lack of private investment into female founders and a historic lack of public funding into gender specific conditions have compounded together to make a tough market (which sits currently, in a generally tough economic climate). This means, founders are working with tightttttttt budgets. You personally have to be ready to do more, with less. It’s just a fact - get used to it. Both at the early stage, and once things are working, this will apply.

So you’ll need to show that you can graft, and that you’re low ego, in interviews. The people running femtech startups have tremendous amounts of grit, resilience and ambition. More often than not, it’s very unglamorous and very hard work. Before you find product market fit, companies generally get things wrong many many times. Having humility and understanding you are wrong until you are right, is very important. If you don’t like being wrong… think twice about early stage. Life will feel uncomfortable.

Once things start to work, you will have to push hard to meet ever increasing goals. It’s not easier than things not working, it’s different. And you need to be prepared to work incredibly hard in this stage too. It’s not all instagram posts about periods, and conferences with other exceptional and interesting women. It’s mostly just really hard work, you need to prove you have it in you - during an interview, and then definitely once you arrive.

Have some good questions, and a curious mind

If you’re interviewing, please please prep some good questions. Conversations which are memorable and interesting often standout more than most others. Founders are so short of time, and often can operate on autopilot when it comes to casual intros. So make it interesting! At very least prep good questions, give an opinion and show you’ve thought about the conversation and the business. Sadly, I have taken a few calls in my time which are incredibly boring and feel wasteful. Please don’t be that person when you get connected to someone.

Know that “Femtech” businesses need to make money, not only have impact

You can be mission driven, and want to make money. That’s fine. That is how most of the healthcare world works. Women’s health is the same - people are trying to build successful businesses AND help people along the way.

It's worth thinking about - are you comfortable with making money directly off women’s unmet health needs? If you're not, a consumer business is probably not the place for you. The current flavour of the month seems to be woman's health companies selling services into employers. This might be a more palatable option for you. (Though be warned, the years of HR managers having a tonne of different point solutions seem to be behind us...)

If neither of these seem like exciting options, then pharma/biotech might be a good place to look. But some people don't want to work with pharma... So just think about where you're trying to land. Think about it properly.

If you don’t want to make money, don’t work in a business. Try to join one of the many, incredible, not-for-profit organisations that focus on women’s health or gender equity. If you want to be in a “femtech” startup, you’ll enjoy it more if you’re interested in both impact and commercial growth.

VC backed businesses have to make a lot of money, in a pretty short time

If you’re trying to join a VC backed business there is a time horizon on building a large and commercially successful business. So you need to be ready for the pressure which comes with that. Some things that might happen in VC backed business, that don’t happen as often in say a larger corporate, are:

• large pivots in the product, or the go to market strategy

• Rapidly setting up new services

• Setting up new markets

• Changing prices every week

All of this is normal, but if it doesn’t sound like fun to you then … look elsewhere for your women’s health fix. Think about the environment you’re trying to get into, and whether that suits the way you like to work and your values.

Understand that working in women's health is not an easy choice

It might seem fun to work on something you’re passionate about. However, working in women’s health is not just talking about women’s health issues 24/7 and getting yourself clued up. You have to work very hard, and get very good, at your specific job. For the vast majority of people, your job is not to become a women’s health expert. Your role will be about delivering a business outcome. Don’t forget that.

One of the most magical things about working in women’s health is who you get to work with, no question. But you’ll be all be incredibly heads down fighting the headwinds of shadow banned marketing, chronic underfunding, and an overall lack of awareness and education about women's health. It’s a hard, and rewarding, fight. But it’s not an easy option to take.