In this episode of Ventures, my guest Alice Crisci (https://www.instagram.com/fertilityanswers_/)  and I discuss her journey as a cancer survivor and entrepreneur in the medical/fertility space. While many people turn to “Dr. Google” when trying to find answers to their medical questions, Alice and her team have created a more sophisticated and personalized approach for finding answers to fertility-related questions. In addition to talking about MedAnswers and their first vertical, FertilityAnswers, Alice and I also talk about mental health for founders, how to validate an initial entrepreneurial idea, and how to think about smart resource allocations for effective go-to-market strategies.  

You can watch this episode below or listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts (search for “Ventures”).

In this episode we cover the following:

1:40 - Alice intro, background, cancer survivor, entrepreneur.

7:15 - The earlier years of Alice’s life. Where did the kernel of entrepreneurship come from and what were her early learnings?

10:37 - What did Alice teach those 75 journalism students in her high school years about how to be excellent at sales.

13:16 - How was sales part of Alice’s career in her 20s?

15:53 - Coming through cancer, doing advocacy work, and starting MedAnswers.

18:42 - What was the original pitch that landed Alice’s first $50k investor check?

19:42 - What is MedAnswers? What is the problem? What is the solution?

21:52 - When answering questions online, the more context the better. MedAnswers helps with this. What is an example of the kind of information that MedAnswers provides to experts (anonymously) to give the best possible answers?

23:57 - Education session. How does Alice typically guide someone who is new to the fertility care process?

28:16 - What is PCOS?

29:40 - What is a metabolic disorder?

32:10 - Nuances between Alice’s liberties as a “patient advocate” vs. a medical provider.

37:09 - Advice for entrepreneurs about how to get started and know their idea is validated?

40:43 - How did Alice initial market her product/service?

43:32 - What is epigenetics? Should people stop smoking pot when trying to get pregnant?

46:33 - What advice would Alice have for entrepreneurs starting now with regard to their go-to-market strategy.

48:55 - Resource allocation strategies during go-to-market operations.

50:44 - Self care. In the dance between raising money, building a product, making customers happy, etc.. How does Alice maintain mental health and sanity? https://www.unplug.com/ https://journey.live/ 

57:30 - For MedAnswers, what is the vision in the coming years? Where is Alice and her team heading next?  Healthy babies for healthy families.

1:00:04 - Where can people best find Alice and MedAnswers online? https://fertility.medanswers.com/ https://www.instagram.com/fertilityanswers_/ 

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