Part III: Building your women's health business without venture capital

This post is Part III of a three-part series by Carolyn Witte (Founder of Tia Health) and Leslie Schrock co-published on Second Opinion and The XX Factor to help women’s health founders raise money in the rapidly growing but still nascent women’s health category. Our goal is to offer a practical, founder-first framework to help you decide if, when, and how to raise venture—and what to do if that’s not the best path for you.

ICYMI, Part I breaks down what makes a business venture-scale and why investor math matters; and Part II dives into when to raise, how much, and from whom. If VC is not the best path for you or your business, Part III is for you!

Improving women’s health is a trillion-dollar opportunity—a moral and economic imperative with ripple effects across many aspects of society. Realizing that opportunity will take many different types of businesses. Some will be venture-scale and serve millions. Others won’t. And that’s okay.

A few reminders as you chart your own path:

First — venture capital isn’t the right fuel for every business

Companies that can become profitable quickly, operate leanly, and grow sustainably often don’t need—or benefit from—VC dollars. In women’s health, this includes lifestyle businesses, community and media platforms, and some consumer products. We’ve seen great examples of profitable newsletter companies or vendors selling supplements (a few examples: The ‘Pause Life by menopause doctor Mary Claire Haver, or nutritionist-founded Inessa) that never raise a dime of dilutive capital. Care delivery businesses—whether virtual or brick-and-mortar—tend to be more capital-intensive, but even there, we’ve seen targeted models scale profitably without venture; they just tend to do so more gradually.

Second — delaying raising venture does not mean never raising outside capital

Even if your business isn’t a fit for venture right now—or you’re not sure yet—that doesn’t mean the door is closed forever. In fact, it might be the smartest way to keep your options open. Some of the most successful healthcare companies started without outside funding, growing sustainably before raising on their own terms.

Take ChenMed, for example—one of the most successful value-based care companies in the U.S. Founded in Miami Gardens, the company was largely bootstrapped for nearly 30 years before taking in a single dollar of outside capital. Today, the company operates more than 100 clinics serving tens of thousands of patients with a highly respected financial and clinical model. Only after proving their model over decades did they accept outside funding—a 2023 private equity financing led by KKR that valued the company in the billions. We’ll save the nuances of VC versus PE for a different post, but tl;dr PE typically goes for scaled, profitable businesses versus early stage, higher risk plays.

(See the bottom of this chart that sends you back to the “raise” route post-PMF when you’re ready to scale!👇)