Cindy Eckert is a highly regarded entrepreneur, a strong advocate for female entrepreneurship, a pharmaceutical leader and one of the few women to have ever sold a company for a billion dollars. Over a distinguished 24-year career in healthcare, she started and sold two businesses for more than $1.5 billion. Having co-founded and sold Slate Pharmaceuticals, which redefined long lasting testosterone treatment for men, she launched Sprout Pharmaceuticals immediately thereafter. As Co-Founder & CEO of Sprout, the company broke through with the first ever FDA-approved drug for low sexual desire in women named Addyi — dubbed “female Viagra” by the media. In 2015, Cindy sold the company to Valeant Pharmaceuticals for $1b cash. Shortly after the sale, Valeant became the subject of media scrutiny for the rampant price inflation of their drugs and an SEC investigation related to accounting practices. Not one to sit idly by, Cindy negotiated to reacquire Addyi at no cost, in order to properly launch it into marketplace on her own terms. Today, Cindy is focused on mentoring, investing in, launching and building other women-led or focused businesses. In 2016, she opened the doors to The Pink Ceiling — a cross between a VC firm, a ‘pinkubator,’ and a consulting enterprise — where she is CEO. At The Pink Ceiling, she has personally invested $15m across 10 different health tech companies at various stages of development.

Lu Zhang is the Founder and Managing Partner of Fusion Fund. Lu is a renowned Silicon Valley based investor, a serial entrepreneur, and a Stanford Engineering alumna. Lu was recently selected as one of the Best 25 Female Early-stage Investors by Business Insider. The Fusion Fund just closed its third fund at $125M, to invest in founders innovating in deep tech and healthcare with a focus on seed and series A stage companies in North America. In this interview, we discuss what venture funds want to see in femtech startups, common mistakes, and Lu’s biggest advice. This is a great opportunity for an inside look into how VC is thinking about femtech investments! Learn more about the fund at www.fusionfund.com.

Jillian Fink is the CEO and founder of Occiguide which is a medical device that treats headaches. Headaches are a leading cause of pain and disability, and routinely affect the well-being and work productivity of more than 45 million Americans each year. Women are twice as likely to have headaches than men and even worse, 85% of migraine patients are women. Many people suspect its hormonal fluctuations are to blame but research still needs to be done. Learn more at www.occiguide.com

Jenny Wu is the Co-President & Chief Product Officer at Understood.org. Understood.org is a resource for more than 70 million people with learning and thinking differences like ADHD and dyslexia. They help these neurodivergent individuals understand and anticipate life’s challenges, and build their confidence through personalized and expert-driven experiences, community and content. Understood.org is a 501(c)(3) private operating foundation based in New York. In this episode, we dive deep into ADHD or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Although males are diagnosed with ADHD 3x more than females, it takes significantly longer for females to be diagnosed even though the symptoms arrive as early as they do In males during childhood. Jenny and I discuss why that is and what we could do about it. For more information, to donate, or to become a partner, visit u.org/media and follow them on Twitter @UnderstoodOrg

Derek Sham, the founder and CEO of Cosm Medical, is an engineer who has launched over 8 medical devices in urology, gynecology, gastroenterology, and cardiology. His last urology diagnostic company was PE-back and exited in 2016. Inspired by the complications his grandmother faced, Derek set out to create a better solution for pelvic floor health like preventing pelvic organ prolapse and stopping urinary incontinence. Cosm Medical is creating a digital gynecology platform to personalize care for women. They are revolutionizing the pessary using ultrasound, AI, and 3D printing technologies. Derek is bringing pelvic floor health into the 21st century with cutting-edge technology. Learn more at www.cosm.care

Dr. Silvia Mah is the founder and chairwoman of Stella, a business accelerator for women, and the founder of Stella Angels. Stella Angels is a network of accredited angel investors who are funding women. In this interview, we cover what it’s like for angels investing in femtech, what they’re looking for, what challenges they see companies facing, and what they hope the future of femtech investing looks like.

Beatrice Dixon is the founder and chief innovation officer at The Honey Pot Co. Their products are sold online and at major retailers including Target, Walmart, CVS, Walgreens, Bed Bath and Beyond, Wegmans and more. The Honey Pot Company currently offers feminine washes, wipes, tampons, pads, mommy-to-be products, sexual wellness and soon-to-be additional offerings in both the feminine hygiene and feminine care segments. Their plant-derived feminine hygiene line is created with the goal to provide humans with vaginas, a healthy alternative to feminine care that is made with ingredients that are kind and safe for skin. Our listeners get a special offer! Go to www.thehoneypot.co and use promocode femtech for 15% off your order.

Celine Tien is the founder and CEO of Flowly, a mobile app that combines Virtual Reality and biofeedback for pain and anxiety management. Using a mobile app and VR headset, Flowly uses biometric data such as Heart rate and Heart Rate Variability and converts it to visualizations in virtual experiences that reduce pain by over 46%. Flowly has also been studied in NIH-backed clinical trials that show an average 40% reduction in opioid usage. This conversation around bioneurofeedback is super fascinating and I am excited to see all the challenges flowly addresses for women’s health! Learn more and sign up at flowly.world.

Lisa Falco is the author of “Go Figure! The astonishing science of the female body”. She was previously Director of Data Science at Ava, a Swiss FemTech startup, where she led a team developing algorithms and artificial intelligence in order to help women get pregnant faster by using their physiological data based on their menstrual cycle. Her book Go Figure, unravels the mystery surrounding women’s biology and explains what is happening underneath the surface. What triggers those changes and What are the sometimes unexpected consequences? The facts are as mind-blowing as they are entertaining.

In today’s episode, I interview Laura-June Clarke, the CEO and founder of Moonai. Monnai is an app that uses audio wavelengths to improve pain experienced during one’s period. Certain sounds, frequencies, and rhythms can impact the central nervous system and help reduce the perception of menstrual pain. Moonai is partnered with neuroscientists, gynecologists, and psychoacoustic experts to provide the most effective sounds for period pain relief. Downloads Moonai in the App Store or visit their website to learn more at www.moonai.es