Every month we ask one individual in our network a few questions about their way into tech, their motivation and their lessons learned.
Let’s start from the beginning. Tell us about where you’re from!
I grew up in the South of Germany and ended up in Switzerland to study at HSG more than 10 years ago.
At the time, I didn’t know anything about tech and my idea of “entrepreneurship” was opening up a bakery on the corner. I was actually planning to become a lawyer and even said that I would never study business. But, as they say, never say never – after my first year, I realized, that I really liked business, so I switched majors.
During my studies, I by coincidence ended up on the organization committee for the START Summit – and that opened this entire new universe of tech and entrepreneurship for me.
Fast forward a few years and some stops in the finance, logistics and pharma industry, I co-founded Health Yourself, a healthcare startup based in St. Gallen, a bit over 4 years ago. With Health Yourself, we make health screening more easily accessible with lab tests from home.
What valuable advice did you get from your parents?
My parents taught me, that it is not, that you cannot do something – you just cannot do it YET. This growth mindset has helped me a lot over the past few years where it often felt like I had to acquire a totally new skill every few months.
How did you become interested in tech?
I wouldn’t say that I am really particularly interested in tech itself. For me, it has never really been about tech but about what you can do with it – as a mean to an end. Usually, I then get excited about the problem that you can solve with for example a new technology like generative AI.
As current CEO – you do have influence on IT – you are not a tech woman yourself i.e. no degree – does that matter?
I think, as a non-technical founder, you need to understand your role and work with people who compliment your skills – and also let them do their job and make decisions on points where you don’t have the necessary knowledge. I work on “what to build and why” and our tech team, especially our CTO, works on “how to build it”. Of course, to be able to do our jobs, we all have to make an effort to understand each other’s side of the story, but our key responsibilities are very clear.
You are in HealthTech – what opportunities do you see technology bringing to patient care or processes?
At the moment, I am most excited about the potential of generative AI to reduce the administrative burden in healthcare. For example, today, doctors spend hours every day documenting what they are doing and writing reports instead of engaging with patients. Just last week, I came across a project at a hospital, where they were working on automatically creating doctor’s reports based on structured patient data in their hospital information system. Use cases like that could free up a tremendous amount of time for doctors and other healthcare providers to do what really counts: diagnosing and treating people.
Have you ever had a role model that inspired you on your path?
Different people have inspired me during different times, but generally, I would say Verena Pausder and Lea-Sophie Cramer, since they were real trailblazers for female founders in the DACH region.
What aspects of your work are you proudest of?
Considering how many startups have not survived the market-downturn of the past 2 years, I am pretty proud that we are still alive and doing quite well (laughs).
Aside from that, I am most proud, when we get good feedback from our users, especially if we have really managed to make a positive impact on someone’s live.
What drives you at work?
I strongly believe that patients – you and me – are the most under-utilized resource in our healthcare system. With Health Yourself, I want to help give people the knowledge and the tools to take a much more proactive role in managing their health. With that, I hope, that we can also contribute to a paradigm shift to more patient-managed care.
What has been your toughest challenge you faced while working in tech?
I think the biggest challenge is, that there is always a new challenge. When you start building a company or a product, you often start out with this idea, that there will be this illusive point, where you have “made it”. But the longer you do it, the more you realize, that that point does not exist. You don’t stop having challenges, you just have different ones.
Do you have a favorite book or podcast?
I absolute love to read everything from non-fiction to crime novels – reading is my favorite brain recovery activity after a stressful day. I don’t really have an all-time favorite though. A book that I keep coming back to is “The Obstacle is the Way” by Ryan Holiday. The mindset of trying to turn obstacles into opportunities has always really resonated with me. It is something that I try to live by both in my personal and professional live – especially when things get tough.
What advice would you give other women in tech?
For example, at pitch events, where it’s all about grabbing people’s interest in a five-minute presentation, as a female founder, you will stand out from all the other male founders just by being a woman.
And what advice would you give women not yet working in tech that want to enter the field?
I’m a product person at heart, so it always hurts me a little to say that, but unfortunately, even the best products mostly don’t sell themselves. Often, you actually win or lose on distribution. As I like to say these days: A great product deserves great distribution. Therefore, I think especially sales or marketing skills are absolutely essential and a good entry point if you are thinking about moving to a tech company.
