Interview with one of our Prefounder Catalyst Masterclass participant and her startup journey
🎯 Section 1: Background & Motivation
1. Can you tell us a bit about yourself — your background, studies, or current work?
I bring 16 years of personalized medicine and clinical research experience from FDA-regulated companies including Illumina, Abbott, and MSD, with expertise in running global clinical trials and securing regulatory approvals across medical devices and pharmaceuticals.
2. What sparked your interest in entrepreneurship?
A deeply personal experience. While navigating my late husband's eight-year journey with a neurodegenerative condition, I witnessed firsthand the systemic gaps in clinical trial access and patient-centered care. I realized I had both the clinical expertise and the personal insight to build something that could help others facing similar challenges.
3. Before joining the class, what did you know about starting a business?
I understood clinical trial operations inside-out, but had limited knowledge of startup mechanics—fundraising, go-to-market strategy, investor relations, and the operational frameworks needed to translate a vision into a viable business.
4. What problem or gap were you trying to solve for yourself by joining this class?
I needed to learn how to transform clinical expertise into a fundable business model, understand what investors look for, and build the strategic frameworks to scale Trials from concept to market-ready platform.
🚀 Section 2: Experience in the Class
5. What has been the most valuable insight or lesson you’ve gained from the Bootcamp so far?
The importance of validation at every stage—not just validating the problem, but validating your solution, business model, and go-to-market approach with real stakeholders before building too far.
6. Was there a particular session, speaker, or activity that stood out to you?
Yes, it was a revealing moment when one of the speakers, Adrian Thoo spoke. Also, I enjoyed the pitching session as it provides me with the opportunity to get feedback from peers.
7. How has the program changed your perspective on building one from scratch?
I initially approached this as a mission-driven project. The bootcamp helped me see that strong business fundamentals don't compromise mission—they amplify impact. Building sustainable revenue models ensures we can serve more patients long-term.
8. What skills or frameworks have you learned that you didn’t expect to be useful, but turned out to be?
Competitive positioning frameworks. I thought differentiation was obvious from our technology, but learning to articulate our unique value against competitors in investor-friendly language was transformative.
9. How did the class environment — peers, mentors, or instructors — contribute to your learning?
The peer network was invaluable—other founders facing different challenges but similar structural problems (fundraising, team dynamics, pivots) provided both practical advice and emotional support during the inevitable rough patches.
💡 Section 3: Personal Growth & Reflection
10. What have you learned about yourself through this journey?
I'm more resilient than I realized, but I also learned that resilience without strategy leads to burnout. I had to learn when to push through and when to pivot—a balance I'm still refining.
11. What mindset shifts or “aha” moments did you experience?
Moving from "I need to build the perfect product" to "I need to build what the market will adopt." Perfection doesn't scale—adoption does. This shifted how we approach our MVP and partnership strategy.
12. How has this class impacted your business direction or goals?
We pivoted from trying to be everything to everyone to a phased market entry approach—starting with a grassroots physician adoption model in the US while simultaneously building institutional partnerships in the Gulf region. This clarity came directly from applying frameworks learned in class.
🌏 Section 4: tell us about your business journey
13. After the bootcamp, how was the journey of starting your business? Please share
We secured a $50K Startup SG Founder grant and built out our technical capabilities—fine-tuning LLMs for clinical trial matching across multiple disease areas. We're now working toward a beta demo for our US partner while navigating typical early-stage challenges: team capacity constraints, partnership negotiations, and technical development timelines. The journey has been intense but validating.
14. What’s your long-term vision — what kind of entrepreneur do you want to become?
I want to become an entrepreneur who proves that patient-centered innovation can be both impactful and commercially successful—someone who builds sustainable businesses that address systemic healthcare gaps, particularly for underserved patient populations who currently have limited treatment options.
❤️ Section 5: Advice & Inspiration
15. What advice would you give to someone who’s thinking about joining the Bootcamp?
Come prepared to challenge your assumptions. Bring your openness to feedback, your willingness to pivot, and expect to work harder than you thought—but you'll leave with frameworks that actually work in the real world.
17. What kind of person would benefit most from this program?
Mission-driven founders with domain expertise who need to learn the business mechanics, or business-savvy founders who need help validating their impact thesis. Both benefit from the structured approach to building investable ventures.
18. In one line — how would you describe your startup journey so far?
Turning personal tragedy into systematic change—helping one patient at a time.
19. How would you encourage another woman to start her business?
Your lived experience is not a liability—it's market insight that others pay consultants millions to approximate. The healthcare system needs solutions built by people who've navigated it from the inside. If you have expertise, a vision, and the courage to start, the frameworks can be learned. Don't wait for perfect conditions—they don't exist.
Keen to explore what entrepreneurship would look like for you? Find out how do you get started and learn business frameworks that will help you save money and pain? Sign up for our next Prefounder catalyst masterclass - bit.ly/3ZUBK82
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