LIVTOSHARE

✨This week’s quote: "Have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become." – Steve Jobs

✨This week’s reflection: The past few weeks have been a beautiful chaos of emotions – anxiousness, fear, excitement, insecurity, and love... all of it. During my therapy session this week, we explored something interesting: I noticed I was comparing how I felt making similar decisions now versus when I was younger. Back then, I dove into the unknown with such confidence, and maybe a little fear, but now my fear can be much greater.

As we continued talking, this is what I walked away with that’s really brought me peace that I hope to share with you: As we get older and experience more of life, it's natural for similar risks to feel bigger and scarier. But here's the thing – just because we feel fear doesn't mean it's not the right decision. Often, it's about accepting that the fear will be there, and choosing to do it anyway. Instead of letting fear be the only voice in the room, we can make space to feel excited too. Sometimes, that flutter of fear is actually pointing us toward our next chapter of growth.

✨ Who inspired me this week: Watch this video with Leena Nair, Global CEO of Chanel, speaking at Stanford Graduate School of Business. Her insights on compassionate leadership and being a pioneer really resonated with where I am right now.

✨ This week's song: "All That Really Matters" - Illenium, Teddy Swims

✨ This week's journal prompt: Where do I feel fear right now? Is there a decision I’ve been hesitating on? What would happen if I decided to move forwards, with my fear?  

💜 Event Highlight @ MARS - Supporting Women’s Health Innovators

This week, I attended an awesome Women's Health Event at MARS featuring a panel on supporting women's health innovators. Two major themes emerged that I've been hearing consistently across both coasts (west & east) and borders (Canada & US):

1. Alternative Funding Pathways The traditional VC model often doesn't align with women's health innovations. We're seeing a crucial need to shift how we evaluate these companies – comparing them to B2B SaaS metrics simply doesn't work. While we often build with potential pharma acquisitions in mind, this approach might not always serve what's most needed in the market.

2. Academic-Startup Collaboration For early-stage women's health companies, partnering with academic institutions and research hospitals isn't just beneficial – it's often crucial. Here's why: Many startups aren't just building products; they're creating foundational data that doesn't exist yet.

Let me share a real example: A friend is developing smart underwear to test pH levels through discharge, with future plans for HPV detection. But here's the shocking part – as of 2023, we have more data on cow discharge than women's discharge! This means she's not just building a product; she's having to create baseline data first.

This creates a chicken-and-egg problem:

• Companies need data to prove their concept

• Getting that data requires significant resources

• Without proof, raising venture funding is challenging

• Without funding, gathering data becomes nearly impossible

The solution? Strategic partnerships with academic institutions, research centers, and government support could help bridge this gap.

Stay tuned – I'm cooking up some exciting plans for the new year to explore these alternative pathways more deeply!

🍒 WOMEN'S HEALTH NEWS THAT CAUGHT MY ATTENTION 🍒

• How big data can improve women’s health. The more we know about women, the more tailored the solutions can be offered (for our very complex life cycle).

“Breaking down siloes starts as a philosophy, a way of thinking about the work of gender equality. But to put the philosophy into practice, the field needs better tools. The ongoing data revolution is giving us one: information about women’s lives that is simultaneously complex enough to capture the messiness, and simple enough to act on.”

Consumer News

• EvieMED Ring’s Pulse Oximeter now FDA approved unlocking more potential for non-invasive remote patient monitoring.

• Stork Club Launches Condition-Based Care Pathways for personalized reproductive goals and disease treatments.

• Say hello to Ella! An AI-assistant aimed to simplify women’s health and wellness.

⚡WHO’S HIRING?⚡

Check out this Women’s Health Jobs newsletter here!

If you enjoyed this edition of LIVTOSHARE, forward it with a friend who's interested in women’s health and growth!

Have a BEAUTIFUL WEEK!!!

With love & light,

Livia Han 💗