Provider's Edge | Peak Performance Guide for Healthcare Entrepreneurs

Most founders chase funding.  The smart ones chase strategic capital .  In this episode, Maria De Santis reveals what separates a check from a true growth partnership—and how women founders can position themselves for both traction and investment in today’s market. You’ll hear how we both connected around the real-world challenges founders face, especially those underrepresented in ventu...

Why do so many healthtech startups gain early traction… and then suddenly stall? It’s usually not the tech. It’s not the vision. And it’s rarely a lack of effort. In this episode, I’m joined by Dirk Schapeler, President of Niterra Ventures ( https://www.niterraventures.com/ ) — the venture arm of Niterra, a $5B Japanese technology company operating globally across automotive, medical, and industri...

How do top investors decide where to put their millions? Hint: It’s not just about your pitch deck. Raising capital isn’t just about vision—it’s about proving you have the team, traction, and exit potential to make your venture worth the risk. Thomas Rudy has reviewed over 1,500 startups a year, and in this episode, he reveals what separates the YESes from the NOs. If you've ever felt unsure wheth...

If you’re a femtech founder building in silence and still waiting for real traction—this episode is your wake-up call. The funding isn’t always the problem. It’s the missing ecosystem. Dr. MyPhuong Le went from struggling in academic research to co-founding a manufacturing company and now leads a thriving innovation hub in San Diego. Together, we unpacked what early-stage founders really need beyo...

Candid insights. Tactical advice. Real talk on what investors actually look for. Too many brilliant women-led startups struggle to get noticed by VCs. It’s not always about your product—it’s about how you position, present, and prove your traction. In this episode, I sat down with Aparajita Chauhan, investor at Volition Capital, to talk about what makes a founder investable—before they even start...

Let’s be honest—founders are burned out from cold outreach and investor ghosting. You’ve built something real, but the right people just aren’t seeing it. What if the fastest path to capital was through vetted relationships that already believe in your mission? This isn’t your typical panel. You’re about to sit in on a private investor roundtable from Venture Vitality , a global gathering hosted b...

AI won't win in healthcare unless clinicians—and patients—trust it. In this episode, I sat down with healthcare innovation expert Linda Macomber , who’s been at the forefront of digital transformation for over 35 years, leading initiatives with Kaiser, IBM, and the VA.  Her message is clear: your tech isn’t the hero—the human insight behind it is. Learn What You’ll Discover: 🔹 Why AI is not...

We went beyond basic health coverage. From understanding multigenerational expectations to implementing creative, budget-conscious perks like flexible PTO or caregiver support—this is about building a workplace people want to stay in. Here’s what you’ll walk away with: ♦️When to start offering benefits (hint: before you're forced to) ♦️What employees really want across generations ♦️How to budget...

You built your company to create impact—but are you actually protecting what you’re building? In this episode, I sit down with Dr. David Mandell, an attorney, MBA, and wealth strategist who’s spent over 30 years helping physicians and healthcare founders protect and grow their wealth. We unpack what financial intelligence really means for innovators—why it’s not about greed, but freedom—and how fo...

You don’t need another full-time exec—you need someone who knows how to build the foundation for scale. In this episode, we expose one of the most expensive mistakes health tech founders and system leaders make: hiring too fast, too early, and in the wrong order. Kelly O’Neill joins me to walk through how fractional executives—when vetted and placed strategically—can outperform full-time hires by...

I used to believe that telling my story in full was enough to inspire trust—and capital. But the truth is, how you position your story in a pitch can be the difference between another “we’ll pass” and your next funding round. In this episode, we discussed what it really means to be the guide in your pitch, how to turn cold intros into warm investor relationships, and how to align with capital that...

Curious why your traction isn’t translating into checks? Listen in as we uncover the investor signals that actually matter—and why underrepresented founders can win by doing things differently. Emotionally real, data-backed, and full of practical gems, this conversation isn’t just another funding 101—it's a readiness check. As founders, we often chase capital. But what if you could attract it inst...

If you’ve ever thought, “I need to be more ready before I pitch,” this episode is your wake-up call.  In this live panel from the Venture Vitality Roundtable , you’ll hear from four powerhouse women who are reshaping startup capital—from DFX funding strategies to investor readiness, go-to-market scaling, and how to avoid founder burnout. We’re talking real traction, real funding conversations...

Tired of cold-pitching investors who don’t get what you’re building? What if capital started chasing you ? In this episode, I sat down with a panel of seasoned investors during our Venture Vitality Roundtable to unpack what truly makes a startup irresistible to aligned capital. We’re talking beyond pitch decks—this is about market readiness, community-first traction, and the kind of 2-minute pitch...

What happens when six bold women founders get two minutes to pitch life-changing health innovations… and three minutes to prove they’re investor-ready? You get this episode. Real traction. Real questions. Real feedback. And the blueprint for turning your pitch into a strategic partnership. From point-of-care diagnostics to digital therapeutics for fibroids, non-hormonal contraception, and military...

Why do some founders raise with ease—while others, equally talented, get ghosted? In this episode, we reverse the roles: three HealthTech investors answer real questions from early-stage founders on what makes them say “yes.” If you’ve ever poured your heart into a pitch only to hear crickets, this conversation will make you feel seen—and help you shift from being overlooked to oversubscribed. Tun...

When you’re building a healthcare startup, there’s one resource you can’t afford to waste—your people.  Too often, founders lose top talent because they rely on quick fixes instead of designing compensation and incentives that keep employees engaged for the long haul. In this episode, I sat down with Scott Trumpolt , a compensation consultant with 30+ years of HR experience, including 12 year...

Burnout isn’t just a clinical issue—it’s a leadership one. And most clinicians-turned-founders are burning the candle at both ends while trying to serve, scale, and stay sane. Monica McKitterick, PA-C, did it differently. When she stopped leading from adrenaline and started building from alignment, everything shifted—her visibility, her support system, and her ability to scale without chaos. “You’...

𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒌 𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒘𝒊𝒏 𝒂 𝒄𝒍𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒕.  But what happens after the go-live?  Too many health tech companies lose momentum right when they should be deepening trust and adoption. In this episode, I sit down with Sandra Johnson, SVP of Client Services at CliniComp, to talk about how their “system as a service” model keeps clinicians front and center, embeds users in every stage of product creation...

What if a single piece of technology could improve patient healing rates by 35%—without adding extra work for clinicians? That’s exactly what Swift Medical is proving with their AI-powered wound care platform. With over 30 million wound assessments and 40+ peer-reviewed studies, their solution integrates directly into existing EHR workflows, predicts complications before they happen, and enables p...

You have under 2 minutes to win an investor’s attention. Most VCs decide in the first 30–90 seconds whether to keep listening. If you’re a women-led healthtech founder, that window is your make-or-break moment—and your science-heavy pitch could be costing you the “yes” you deserve. In our latest guide, you’ll learn how to transform complex, data-driven solutions into investor-ready pitches that ge...

What if building your HealthTech solution was only half the battle, because the real game is connecting humans and data across an entire ecosystem? That’s the challenge Eugene Pozdnikov, CEO of CYBX, is tackling head-on.  In this episode, we unpack how to move beyond single-point care and build ecosystems that serve patients, families, physicians, and long-term care teams—without losing fidel...

When your frontline workers are burnt out, and your admin team is buried in spreadsheets… It’s not a staffing issue. It’s a system issue. In this episode of Provider’s Edge , I sat down with Adam Lewis, co-founder and CEO of Apploi, to unpack why long-term care organizations can’t solve workforce burnout by hiring alone—and what it actually takes to retain the people doing the hardest jobs in heal...

In this episode, I sat down with Phil Beckett to unpack the true complexity of making health data work.  From mismatched baby names and identity errors to AI-powered community simulations, we explored why data usability—not just availability—is key to lasting change.  We talked about aligning economic models with upstream care, empowering patients with understandable records, and the mul...

You’re doing all the things. Running from call to call, showing up at every pitch, every investor dinner, every headline tech week. It feels like momentum—but is it? In this episode, we unravel one of the most dangerous illusions in startup culture: mistaking chaos for progress. WHAT YOU’LL LEARN IN THIS EPISODE: 1️⃣ Why “chronic busyness” is the new burnout badge Founders are over-scheduling and...