Bio

Sarah Porter, MBA, is the Founder and CEO of MedDefend, a healthtech startup dedicated to reducing diagnostic timelines for chronic and autoimmune conditions through AI-powered care navigation and clinical insights. With nearly a decade of experience building early stage startups in a sales and go to market capacity, she pivoted to launching her own company after experiencing a five year misdiagnosis. Backed by Techstars and JP Morgan Chase, MedDefend is transforming patient care by leveraging AI to provide faster, more accurate diagnoses. Sarah is passionate about bridging gaps in healthcare and technology, improving patient outcomes, and expanding access to care.

Intro

The salient point of this podcast episode revolves around Sarah Porter, an extraordinary entrepreneur who has harnessed her personal health challenges to create Med Defend, a groundbreaking startup that seeks to revolutionize the diagnosis and management of chronic conditions through artificial intelligence. After enduring a prolonged misdiagnosis and consulting over thirty-five specialists, Sarah recognized a critical gap in the healthcare system, which she now aims to address by empowering patients in their diagnostic journeys. Her personal narrative, which originates from the south side of Chicago, illustrates the profound intersection of personal adversity and entrepreneurial spirit. As we engage in this enlightening conversation, we will delve into the nuances of her experience and the innovative solutions Med Defend offers, thus shedding light on the pressing need for reform in chronic illness management. Join us as we explore how Sarah is dedicated to ensuring that no individual must navigate the convoluted medical maze she once encountered.

Story

The conversation with Sarah Porter unfolds as a compelling narrative of resilience and innovation in the face of adversity. Sarah, a remarkable entrepreneur hailing from the south side of Chicago, shares her personal journey of battling a chronic condition known as postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS), which ultimately inspired her to create Med Defend, a startup dedicated to transforming the diagnostic process for chronic conditions. Having navigated through a harrowing five-year ordeal of misdiagnoses and consultations with over thirty-five specialists, Sarah's story serves as a poignant reminder of the challenges faced by countless individuals suffering from chronic illnesses. Her experience highlights the systemic issues within the healthcare industry that often leave patients feeling unheard and helpless.

Within this episode, Sarah articulates her vision for Med Defend, emphasizing the importance of empowering patients by providing them with tools to effectively communicate their symptoms and manage their healthcare journey. The discussion delves into the functionality of the Med Defend app, which utilizes artificial intelligence to assist patients in obtaining a more accurate diagnosis through a tailored approach that considers various differential diagnoses. By engaging with healthcare providers and addressing their pain points, Sarah illustrates the collaborative effort required to bridge the gap between patient experiences and medical practices, ultimately aiming to expedite the diagnostic process for new patients. Through her commitment to improving the healthcare landscape, Sarah exemplifies how personal challenges can catalyze significant innovation and drive meaningful change.

A salient aspect of the dialogue revolves around the profound implications of Sarah's personal health struggles, which have catalyzed her entrepreneurial pursuits. She recounts her experiences with POTS, a condition that disrupts the autonomic nervous system, rendering everyday activities arduous and often debilitating. This personal narrative not only underscores the emotional toll of chronic illness but also emphasizes the systemic failures within healthcare systems that commonly dismiss patients' symptoms as inconsequential. Sarah’s determination to transform her adversity into a solution for others manifests in her founding of Med Defend, a startup that leverages artificial intelligence to streamline the diagnostic process for chronic and autoimmune diseases.

The episode further explores the dynamics of the startup ecosystem, particularly within the Midwest, where Sarah has witnessed a burgeoning community of innovators and investors eager to disrupt traditional healthcare paradigms. She articulates her strategic approach to building Med Defend, which includes validating the problem through a podcast, engaging directly with physicians to understand their challenges, and establishing partnerships with healthcare organizations. This multifaceted strategy not only facilitates the development of a product that addresses real-world needs but also positions Sarah as a leader in the movement towards patient-centric healthcare. Through her experiences and insights, the episode serves as both an enlightening narrative and a call to action for aspiring entrepreneurs to consider how their personal experiences can inform and shape innovative solutions in the healthcare space.

Takeaways

• Sarah Porter transformed her personal health struggles with POTS into a mission to revolutionize healthcare, creating Med Defend to aid patients in navigating chronic conditions.
• The average time to diagnosis for chronic conditions in the United States is seven years, highlighting a significant gap in the healthcare system that needs to be addressed for effective patient care.
• Med Defend uses AI technology to provide patients with tailored support in their healthcare journey, emphasizing the importance of patient empowerment in medical decision-making.
• Sarah's experience of being misdiagnosed for five years illustrates the broader issue of chronic illness misdiagnosis affecting a substantial percentage of the American population.
• The startup community in the Midwest, particularly in Chicago, is evolving to become more innovative, with a growing network of angel investors supporting startups like Med Defend.
• By fostering collaboration between patients and healthcare providers, Med Defend aims to improve diagnostic accuracy and expedite treatment for those suffering from chronic illnesses.

Links

Sarah Porter LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarahatmeddefend/

MedDefend Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mymeddefend/

MedDefendTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@meddefend

MedDefend site: https://mymeddefend.com/

Leave us a review: https://podchaser.com/DesigningSuccessfulStartups

Jothy’s book: https://www.amazon.com/Tech-Startup-Toolkit-launch-strong/dp/1633438422/

Site with podcasts: https://jothyrosenberg.com/podcast

YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@DesigningSuccessfulStartups

Jothy’s non-profit: https://whosaysicant.org

Jothy’s TEDx talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PNtOawXAx5A

Foreign.

Hello, I'm Jathy Rosenberg, the host of Designing Successful Startups, where today's guest is Sarah Porter.

And you know, it's postural, but POTS is actually a disease of the autonomic nervous system.

So the way that I describe it to people is everything your body is automatically supposed to do, it has trouble with.

So body temperature, heart rate, blood pressure, eyesight, all of these things that are normal and, you know, you don't even think about.

For a normal person, we have difficulty within our body, so we don't look sick, but our body is kind of fighting every step of the way.

If we're standing, walking, moving, it has a lot of difficulty.

On Designing Successful Startups, we dive into the stories, struggles and successes of today's most innovative founders.

In this episode, we meet Sarah Porter, a remarkable entrepreneur who transformed her personal health battle into a mission to help millions.

After spending five years being misdiagnosed and visiting over 35 specialists, Sarah founded Med Defend, a startup using AI to revolutionize how chronic conditions are diagnosed and managed.

From the south side of Chicago to the startup ecosystem of the Midwest, Sarah's journey showcases how personal adversity can fuel entrepreneurial purpose.

Join us as we explore how she's putting power back into the patient's hands and working to ensure no one has to face the same medical maze she encounters.

Welcome to the podcast, Sarah.

Thank you.

I am so excited to be here.

I'm glad you're here.

I always like to start this off the same way.

Where are you originally from and where do you live now?

Yeah, a great loaded question for me.

So I am originally from the south side of Chicago.

That's where a majority of my family still is, in the suburbs and.

And around the Chicagoland area.

But currently I live in West Des Moines.

But we are moving back to Chicago very shortly, so I kind of split time 50, 50 right now.

Is it the south side of Chicago where the Obamas live?

There is a house there, yes.

I don't know how often they frequent it, but.

Yeah, well, they've got.

They've got friends on Nantucket.

They've.

Yeah, yeah, you've done a number of you.

Like you've said to me, you're in the startup community.

So besides getting to listen to great jazz and having fabulous pizza, what's the.

What's it like?

Are there a lot of VCs?

I wouldn't say there's a lot.

I would say there's a couple of big players in the Chicagoland area.

I would say Chicago is a very Dense population of angel investors and you see a lot of family offices and I think a lot of spin outs from the university systems there.

So I wouldn't say there's a ton of VCs.

I would say that ecosystem is starting to change and evolve over time as more innovation is happening there, especially in specific industries.

But I would say majority of my career I've seen a lot of angel investing going on and I think that's true for a lot of the Midwest.

But I think Chicago, Minneapolis, Des Moines, Omaha and a few places in Wisconsin like Madison are really trying to change that from what I've seen.

So it's been a pretty cool couple of years post pandemic to watch the Midwest really grow in innovation and investors so that, you know, people can get investments and don't have to go out to California or New York.

Okay, you've, you've got a lot of experience working at startups, mostly doing sales.

Is that right or.

Yes.

Yeah.

Okay, you did that for a while and then I'm guessing that just being at startups you got.

It got into your blood, is that right?

What, is that a fair thing to say?

Yeah, but you also, you know, know, observed and, and you were a senior person, so you learned a lot.

But then there's this point at which you made the leap.

There was a precipitating situation that made you jump to this first, the first startup.

So, you know, kind of combine those two, tell us a little bit about what made you do it, and also what, you know, you learned along the way from, from those experiences at startups.

Yeah, so, I mean, I think I scared my whole family when I started in startups because I actually went to school to be a teacher and so a big pivot.

But the first startup I worked at was an ed tech startup.

And truly it's not for the faint of heart, you know, especially when you're in that sales role and your job directly correlates to the company either getting the investment they need or the continuation of hiring or, you know, these big goals.

And so you learn a lot.

You have a lot of hats you have to wear.

And I think when you're in that kind of role, it really equips you to have your own startup.

Uh, and thankfully while I was working at startups, I also was fortunate enough to go and get my MBA from the University of Iowa.

So that helped a little bit with the confidence.

I don't think you need an MBA to have a, you know, your own startup by any means, but it helped Me, because my education was in education.

Right.

So, yeah.

So I think.

I think you learn a lot about, you know, dealing with multiple stakeholders when you're in a sales role.

You have to be very organized.

You have to be able to forecast, you know, all of these kinds of things within business acumen.

Yeah.

Like you said, it was a very extenuating circumstance that gave me the push to have my own, and that was my misdiagnosis.

Well, that was actually going to be my next question, so.

Yeah.

So the medical diagnosis has the abbreviation pots.

Is that right?

Pots, yes.

Yeah.

Okay.

And I'm sure it's a whole bunch of big words, but tell us what it stands for.

It is.

Yeah.

Well, and actually, I argue the definition of it all the time.

So it's postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome.

And in layman's terms, that just means when you stand up, your heart beats fast and, you know, it's postural.

But POTS is actually a disease of the autonomic nervous system.

So the way that I describe it to people is everything your body is automatically supposed to do, it has trouble with.

So body temperature, heart rate, blood pressure, eyesight, all of these things that are normal.

And, you know, you don't even think about.

For a normal person, we have difficulty within our body, so we don't look sick, but our body is kind of fighting every step of the way.

If we're standing, walking, moving, it has a lot of difficulty.

You said there was a misdiagnosis for a long period of time.

Five years, Very long time.

Did you have to go to multiple doctors to finally get it figured out?

Yeah, it was.

And this rings true for a lot of people with chronic conditions in the United States.

So a stat I like to throw out that is not so pleasant is 60% of Americans have a chronic condition, but the average time to diagnosis in America is seven years.

And so for me, it was a very similar story to everyone that you hear with a chronic condition, where I went to over 35 specialists.

I showed them my SIM.

Yep.

I showed them my symptoms time and time again.

At one point, I genuinely went to a cardiologist and I showed them that sitting down, my heart rate was 65 beats, perfect minute.

I then stood up in front of them and it went up to 120 right away.

And they looked at me in the face and said, that's normal.

You're a young woman.

You're too young to have that complicated of health issues.

But if you want, we'll do a CT of your heart, which wouldn't have diagnosed pots, by the way.

And so, yeah, it took a very long time to get a doctor to take me seriously and actually run the test that was needed to get my POTS diagnosis.

And, um, a little bit of a ramble, but I actually had a surgery the Wednesday.

So I found out I had POTS on a Monday.

I had surgery that Wednesday.

And Most people with POTs have to have their anesthetics changed because of the way our body reacts.

And had I not found out on Monday that I had pots, they wouldn't have had time to ask for an anesthetic person to be in the room with me or change the anesthesia that I was getting.

Um, so it was truly like a last minute, kind of like, save there.

Um, you mean.

You mean you might have.

You might have died from the wrong amount of anesthesia?

What?

I was told that there was a re.

An increased risk of a heart attack.

Um, and I also have Bacardia when I lay down.

I don't know if I ever say that right.

It sounds like the.

When I say Bacardi, it sounds like Bacardi, but that's like, when your heart rate is too low.

So typically when I lay down, my heart rate is about 45 beats per minute, which is like an average for, like, a marathon runner because they're very used to, like, working on their heart muscle, but not for a normal person.

And so, yeah, there were a few complications that could have occurred.

And normally patients with pots, they ask for an anesthesiologist to be in the room or a nurse anesthetist, if I'm saying that.

Right.

To be in the room with you during surgery.

So I'm super grateful that I found out that Monday and they were able to swap that care for.

For my surgery Wednesday.

All right, well, so this is a more personal set of things to drive you to a startup than most people have.

You know, some of us just see there's a problem in the market that we know something about.

You had it, like, all focused on your own experience, but your startup isn't just about pots.

It's about misdiagnosis.

We understand the motivation for why you would want to try to solve this problem, but how do you solve this problem?

Yeah, no, and it's not one that I'm alone in.

You know, I thought I was alone, and then I checked TikTok that week after I got my diagnosis, and I realized there were 3 billion posts with the hashtag chronic illness on it on social media.

And People crying out for help.

Because this is a huge problem where you go to your primary, you tell them your symptoms, they say, hey, your labs came back normal.

Then you go on this hamster wheel of special separate specialists, they're running their normal tests, you're coming back normal.

You know, all of these things are getting missed.

And so what our first product was in our MVP that's still in market, that you can use In Android and iOS is an app where people can go on and talk to an AI.

And the AI creates a report of how to get diagnosed in the most effective manner for chronic and autoimmune conditions.

So there's something called a differential diagnosis in medicine, and that's when the diagnosis can be very similar.

Right.

Like a fibroid or endometriosis, both cause, you know, similar types of pain.

Right.

And so we spit out the list of differentials and we say, hey, you have a list of five differential diagnoses that it could be if an MRI can knock out, if you have three of them.

Let's start there, right?

How is, how are we going to go through health care the most effective?

And then we have nurses you can meet with to coach you on how to talk to your doctor, how to work with insurance, like how to actually get it done.

Right.

Because at the end of the day, we're also following the line of the health care system, which is already broken.

So.

So we want to provide as much support as possible and then you can join communities.

What we're doing moving forward is going to be working with healthcare systems on identifying missed diagnoses already within their patient profiles and then helping them spot chronic and autoimmune conditions a little bit faster for new patients that are coming on board as well.

Can they, with HIPAA and all that, do they have, you know, this huge treasure trove of all of their patient records that have been anonymized so that they can allow you to search through it to find misdiagnoses and patterns.

And yeah, so our tool will be HIPAA compliant and the app is within the standard of being HIPAA compliant as well.

So what we'll do at first is we actually have a partnership with an organization to be able to pull anonymized health records.

And then we'll integrate into the EHR as we kind of scale up so that we can get access to those records as well.

But what's interesting or different about us is that we're also taking into account all of this subjective and real time data from the patient that's often missed in the doctor's visit because you only have 10, 15 minutes.

Right.

We've all been in a doctor's where your nurse comes in, they talk to you for five minutes, the doctor comes in, you're in and out in 10 minutes.

You're honestly more spent time in the waiting room than you did in the doctor's chair.

So we want to make sure that all of that real time subjective data is being taken into account as well, just so that health care can be a little bit more proactive versus reactive.

So that was a little bit of a ramble.

But when you say subjective information, you don't mean from the doctor.

Where.

Where is that coming from?

Yeah, we want it coming directly from the patient.

So the way it'll work is you can speak to Med Defend while you're onboarding into your doctor's appointment and then use the app to continuously update them on new or worsening symptoms.

Any symptom checker that you have aligned on your phone, you know, the steps in the day, your sleep pattern.

Right.

We're collecting all of this data on our phone and we're using it to inform ourselves, but rarely is it getting to our doctor who is informing our healthcare needs and what's happening there and what medications we're on.

Right.

So how do we bring an aspect of remote patient monitoring to chronic disease management to make it more proactive for the patients?

Hi.

The podcast you are listening to is a companion to my recent book, tech startup Toolkit, how to Launch Strong and Exit Big.

This is the book I wish I'd had as I was founding and running eight startups over 35 years.

I tell the unvarnished truth about what went right and especially about what went wrong.

You could get it from all the usual booksellers.

I hope you like it.

It's a true labor of love.

Now back to the show.

So when you start talking to people on the.

On the medical system side of the equation, as opposed to the 3 billion people that could be considered patients on TikTok side, are they reacting well to this?

Are they looking for this kind of help?

Yeah, I mean, I don't think any.

You know, every physician we talk to, we want to make sure that we're not coming at it in a way where we're like, hey, you're not doing your job right.

You know, we understand that there is so much in a day that a doctor has to accomplish.

Burnout is very, very real in that field right now, especially post pandemic.

And so when we Go to talk to physicians about this.

It's, hey, how can we save you time?

How can we increase your bottom line?

And how can we increase patient satisfaction?

And having those conversations and kind of meeting in the middle leads to a really insightful conversation where we're getting somewhere.

We didn't build this tool going in blind.

I don't have a background in health care.

I just have a background as a very angry patient.

And so We've interviewed over 60 physicians so far and showed them the tool along the way, as we're building it out to ensure that we're hitting the pain points of their day to day, but still also keeping in mind the power of the patient while we do that.

The other thing I was curious about from way back when you started this conversation is, is there a cure for any of these things?

What's the treatment?

What's the plan for, like, for you for with.

On pots?

Yeah, don't stand up.

Never stand up.

Yeah, never stand up.

Yeah, just stay seated.

No, I mean, a lot of people with POTS do use mobility aids.

And so just for everyone out there, if you see someone who looks normal, you know, using one of those wheelchairs at the grocery store, there's probably a good reason, right?

Pots, they say, increase your salt.

That's pretty much our medicine, unless you want to try a beta blocker.

But some people, like myself, who have a low resting heart rate, can't really take it.

You know, it's.

It's kind of this weird formula.

And so salt increases blood volume, so when you stand, less goes down.

It's a whole thing.

And so a lot of these chronic or autoimmune diseases that 80% affect women don't have a therapeutic on market right now.

And that is something that we would work with pharma on in that remote patient monitoring aspect of what therapeutics are working.

What symptoms are, you know, commonly attributed to people with dysautonomia or endometriosis or pcos?

You know, how can we bring new therapeutics to market to actually help these people versus just kind of throwing a band aid on the symptom management side of it versus like the root cause issue.

Um, so that's something we're super passionate about as well, is working with pharma on that, to kind of bridge that gap for a lot of these conditions.

Have you already worked on.

On getting external funding or are you self funded?

What's your status there?

Yeah, so at first, just to get the initial concept out, we actually started with a podcast called the Medical Maze, where we interview people worldwide to gain an audience and traction in the problem we were solving.

And that worked really well to garner interest from Techstars and JPMorgan Chase AI program because we were able to validate our problem without a full product in market yet.

So we did do the techstars JP Morgan Chase AI program in Chicago and that allowed us to work on our mvp, get some AI in there.

So we have a partnership through the Nvidia Inception program because of that program, which was really great.

And then from there we've had a few angel investments.

Right now we're raising our pre seed round as we move forward with our tool for health care organizations.

And we got our first institutional check from Minerva Fund, which is a fund out of California and are hoping to close that round this spring.

Well, you know, the description of MVP just now, it's a misnomer that people think they have to build a product for mvp.

You know what Dropbox's first MVP was?

It was a video.

Was it really?

Yeah, it was a video.

And that and the excitement from that and the demand from that were off the charts.

And so that gave them the confidence to go build what they had been sketching out on pieces of paper.

That's incredible.

So what you just described is a totally legit, in fact, a brilliant way to do, you know, an MVP test.

So flash forward for us.

So you've got some AI that's going to help analyze data, you're going to get this subjective data, you're going to get patient record data.

And what does this look like in a year or two that will make a difference?

And that Sarah Porter of five years ago going in, in a couple years when this is all working, what would have happened that would.

That's different than what happened with you and the 35 specialists?

Yeah, that is.

You know, the question I asked myself when I started this right, is how do I make sure there are no many or are no more people like me walking around who feel this sense of hopelessness because no one is listening to them when their body is just not working.

And so for me, the really big goal is putting the power back in the patient's hands and really allowing them to utilize this tool to track their healthcare, track their diagnostic journey, have a say in what's going on, be able to ask those questions, right?

Like in my chart, you can ping your doctor, you wait for a response from their nurse, and it's great to be able to communicate that way.

But how are we getting that data?

And that Monitoring up more when you're at home.

And that is so important.

But I think, you know, on the flip side, it's having physicians recognize a lot of these diseases that go undetected for so long and putting a lot of that in front of them.

Because I think at the heart of it, you know, I was just at an event for Chicago women and digital health by Pace Healthcare last week, and so many of the women were talking about how their physicians just weren't educated on a lot of the conditions.

They don't blame them for not being educated on the conditions, but there's so many conditions that don't really get taught in medical school and are a lot of the old school ways of thinking.

And so how do we, I guess, revolutionize that a little bit and make more of the chronic and autoimmune conditions that go overlooked more part of the conversation, while also putting a lot of the power back into the patient's hands?

Do you have limitations on how far you can walk or how long you can stand or how is that working for you?

Yeah, it is difficult.

So a lot of people, I think with chronic conditions, you have to mourn a little bit of who you were before your diagnosis.

Because before I would be able to get up super early, go to work, you know, there.

There was no planning.

There was nothing I had to worry about.

It was just get up and go and live your life and go have fun and, you know, work hard.

And now there is so much preparation.

I have to think about going into my daily life.

Do I have my compression socks?

Do I bring my salt packets with me?

Did I have enough water?

Am I wearing comfortable shoes?

Where is parking going to be?

Right?

All of these things you have to think about.

Thankfully, a lot of the events I go to are within the healthcare realm.

So people, you know, know what POTS is.

And, um, for people with pots, it's this huge umbrella.

You know, people are on different ends of kind of a big spectrum when it comes to symptoms.

For me, I get a lot of I'm almost about to faint, like, symptoms.

I have to hold onto a table.

If I'm standing too long, I might have, like, a gas.

Like, I might look like I'm gasping.

I'm forgetting the technical term, but it's kind of like you're.

You're losing air, but you're fine.

Like nothing's going to happen to you, but you feel like you have to, like gas.

Um, so I might look a little silly at times, but I'm able to, you know, perform for the most part.

Um, but yeah, no, I mean, I think, you know, it's.

It's a unfortunate side of chronic and autoimmune conditions that don't really have a true therapeutic on market for them because there is nothing we can do other than prep, prep, prep for our daily life.

Well, and that's something that's just as like a.

A side tangent here about swimming, though.

That is something that I'm actually going to try because Katie Ledecky, who's the Olympic swimmer who just won a ton of medals in this last Olympics, has pop.

Just because the way your body operates in water is so differently versus not.

Yeah, well, it's kind of like a form of, like, nervous system regulation with that breathing.

Right.

So I.

I'm excited to try.

I don't know if you have a gym near you that does this, but we have a gym.

I don't know if I'm allowed to say the name or not, so you can cut it out if not.

But it's through Mercy One.

It's called the Mercy One Fitness Center.

And I had no idea this existed until my therapist actually told me about it because I was so upset because a lot of people with pots can't really.

I used to do, like, those hit workouts every day, and I cannot do that anymore because my heart rate would, like, explode.

You know, it gets up to about 180 if I just go for a normal walk or try lifting.

And so this gym actually works directly with people who have chronic conditions or form of disability or any sort of, you know, if they're recovering from cancer, have, you know, any kind of these conditions.

They have specialists who will work with you on ways that you can still move your body and it not be a deterrent for you.

So I.

I really appreciate that we have something like that in the area that I can go and feel comfortable trying workouts and have people there who would know what to do in case something happened.

Want to just ask one more question?

I love talking about grit with startup people.

You did a bunch of startups before you had this condition.

You probably had grit before then.

Certainly what you're going through now is adding to that grit story.

If you go back, what is your original origin grit?

That's a great question.

My.

The first startup I worked at, the CEO, he actually wrote me a letter of recommendation when I was leaving, and he used to joke with me all the time that I had a chip on my shoulder that was my personality, and no one had ever told me that before.

And in his letter of recommendation, he wrote that, so both of my knees dislocated growing up as a child.

And so I would always want to play sports, but I couldn't.

So I became really hyper involved in being like, president of every club I was in in high school to like, overcompensate maybe.

And that's where he got that story from of like, having a chip on my shoulder and really just doing everything I can to be involved in the best way possible and show up for myself.

And so I think that's kind of maybe where it started was I always wanted to be in sports.

I couldn't be.

So I.

I pivoted and overcompensated.

And, you know, that's where a lot of it comes from.

But, you know, I will say, like, having a good support system and influences in your life.

I have a lot of entrepreneurs and, you know, hardworking family members and my family and being able to have exposure to that, I think was important as well.

Which is why I'm so passionate about helping other founders who maybe don't have that kind of ecosystem really come into it and have, you know, those mentors and advisors who can help them.

Yeah, that's a long winded answer of just saying that.

I think my body's always been a little bit messed up and I overcompensated.

And I'm grateful to have had a lot of examples of what it means to be hardworking growing up as well.

I wish you the the best of luck with this startup.

Say the name of it again, Med Defend, and we'll put the link to it in the show notes.

Awesome.

Thank you.

Yeah, I thank you for being on this episode.

I just wanted to say thank you for all the work that you're doing to amplify voices of a lot of people who are underrepresented.

I know that you do a lot of work in helping people get access to prosthetics, which is so important, and giving a lot of confidence back to them.

So I just wanted to say thank you for this episode and allowing me to talk about my pots and, you know, hopefully that helps a lot of other people out there who are struggling under that dysautonomia umbrella as well.

But yeah, I just wanted to say thank you for the work that you're doing too.

Thank you.

The founders toolkit from Sarah's episode Turn Personal Challenges into Market Opportunities.

Sarah's experience with misdiagnosis led her to identify a massive gap in health care that affects 60% of Americans with chronic conditions.

Look to your own struggles as potential areas where innovation is desperately needed.

Validate problems before building solutions.

Sarah started with a podcast to build audience and validate the problem before developing a full product.

This early traction helps secure spots at prestigious programs like Techstars and gain partnerships with organizations like Nvidia.

Build with stakeholders, not for them.

By interviewing over 60 physicians while developing their tools, Sarah ensured MedDefend addressed real pain points for doctors while still empowering patients.

Always co create with the people who will use your product.

Leverage existing ecosystems.

Sarah utilized regional advantages like the strong angel investor network in Chicago and medical partnerships in Iowa.

Understand your local startup ecosystem strengths and resources.

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This is Jonathy Rosenberg saying TTFN Tata for now.