Women Disrupting Tech

Most founders build their financial position in the wrong order. By the time the exit arrives, the decisions that mattered most have already been made under pressure. In this episode of Women Disrupting Tech, I talk with Ana Herrero-Wallace, financial independence coach, former US-licensed equities trader, and founder of AdaInvest, about why financial independence is not an exit outcome but a tool you build while building your company. Ana is also the author of ‘Still Thinking? Act., a smarter money guide for women.' We explore how money mindset shapes the way founders price, fundraise, and negotiate, and what it takes to move from overthinking to action.If you're a female founder, entrepreneur, or woman in tech who wants to understand how financial agency changes the way you build, fundraise, and choose investors, this episode is for you.What you'll learn in this episode:Why the fundraising ask most founders make is shaped by what they think investors will accept, not what they actually needHow to build a personal financial floor in parallel with your company, and why liquidity matters more than home equity for foundersWhat the Dutch pension gap reveals about a system that rewards part-time work without accounting for its long-term costWhy moving from a scarcity mindset to an abundance mindset is less about attitude and more about having a clear financial planHow unpaid labor has real financial value, and why women can and should negotiate for it to be recognizedWhat "playing to win" looks like in practice, and why most women are socialized into a defensive financial posture before they ever start a companyWhy the goal of fundraising is agency, not validation, and how that difference changes the way you negotiateConnect with Ana Herrero-Wallace and AdaInvest: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ana-herrero-wallace/AdaInvest LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/adainvestco/ Website: https://adainvest.co/ Still Thinking? Act.: https://mybook.to/rypMMkA About Women Disrupting TechEvery week, Women Disrupting Tech covers the decisions, patterns, and structural realities that female founders and investors in HealthTech, FinTech, ClimateTech, and AI rarely discuss in public but run into every time they meet. Follow Women Disrupting Tech on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or YouTube to get it in your feed.

Most brands are optimizing for search engines that fewer people are using. Rachel Gilley, CEO of Clarity Global, is tracking what happens when your customers stop Googling and start asking AI instead.In this episode, Rachel breaks down Generative Engine Optimization: why it matters, what it costs brands that ignore it, and how a consistent message across every touchpoint is now a technical requirement, not a communications nice-to-have. She also makes a sharp distinction between mentoring women and sponsoring them, and why only one of those actually changes who gets funded.What you’ll learn:Why LLMs treat inconsistent brand messaging as noise — and simply ignore itWhat Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) is and why it matters more than traditional search rankingsHow a deliberate GEO strategy drove a 300% increase in AI citations for Monday.comWhy the human layer — strategy, nuance, reading a room — is the one thing AI cannot replaceThe difference between mentoring women and actually sponsoring themWhy fewer female unicorns is a capital routing problem, not a capability problem📋 Full episode notes + Rachel’s bio: https://womendisruptingtech.blog/2026/06/11/episode-156/Connect with Rachel Gilley🌐 clarity.global🔗 linkedin.com/in/rachelgilleySurfacd — track your brand in AI search:🌐 surfacd.comAbout Women Disrupting Tech Every week, Women Disrupting Tech covers the decisions, patterns, and structural realities that female founders and investors rarely discuss in public but run into every time they meet. Follow to get it in your feed.

FemTech represents a trillion-dollar opportunity. So why do all-female teams receive just 2% of early-stage venture capital?Beata Wandachowicz-Krason has spent years researching what is holding FemTech back — the funding gaps, the cultural taboos, and the structural misalignment between how healthcare systems are built and what women’s health actually requires. In this episode, she breaks down why the relatability gap between female founders and male investors is one of the biggest blockers in the sector, and what founders can do about it right now.You’ll hear why pitching FemTech as a social cause is the wrong move, how to pivot from risk-based investor questions back to growth, and why male allyship is not optional if the sector is going to scale.What we cover:The funding paradox: 85% female-led ventures, 2% of VC fundingWhy 90% male VC decision-making creates a structural relatability problemCultural taboos around menopause, miscarriage, and chronic pain — and how they suppress both patient voices and founder credibilityHow healthcare systems optimized for acute care create a prevention gap that FemTech is trying to fillWhy AI tools are censoring the very medical terms that took decades to legitimizeHow to build a data-driven, economically aggressive pitch that moves FemTech out of the wellness nicheThe pivot technique: answering risk-based questions without losing the growth narrativeWhy male allyship — done right — accelerates the sector rather than co-opting itData privacy in women’s health: why the taboo is a bigger barrier than the technologyPractical tools for combating gender bias in the funding processAbout Beata Wandachowicz-KrasonBeata is an executive at Organon and a researcher focused on the systemic barriers holding FemTech back. She works at the intersection of women’s health, venture capital, and ecosystem building.Resources mentioned in the episode:Funding Coach: ⁠fundingcoach.ai⁠Pieter van Keep and early menopause research: ⁠https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/9089556/⁠Related episodes: Sabrina Nowicki Carmen van Vilsteren Femke DelissenIda TinSara OkhuijsenConnect with Beata: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/beata-wandachowicz-krason/⁠Find the show notes: https://womendisruptingtech.blog/2026/06/04/episode-155/Follow Women Disrupting Tech on Spotify and Apple Podcasts for weekly conversations with the women reshaping technology and healthcare.

The solar panels going up on rooftops everywhere are solving one problem, and quietly creating another.This episode is for female founders, women in tech, and anyone building at the intersection of sustainability and deep technology.Host Dirkjan talks with Andjela Bozinac, co-founder and CEO of Renovo Recycling. Andjela is building a modular, chemical-free system that uses Physical AI and robotics to deconstruct end-of-life solar panels and recover high-value materials like aluminum, silicon, and glass.Andjela's path combines mechanical engineering, intellectual property thinking, and a black belt in Taekwondo. She applies the same discipline she learned on the mat to building deep tech: showing up anyway, treating failure as feedback, and designing not just for what works in the lab, but for what gets adopted in the real world.In this episode, you'll hear:Why solar energy is scaling fast while quietly creating a waste problem we don't know how to handle yetHow Renovo's "vending machine in reverse" approach recovers materials without crushing or chemicalsWhy getting technology to work is only 30% of the journey — and what the other 70% actually requiresHow to sell urgency in deep tech without selling the futureWhy regulation in climate tech is a market, not a barrierWhy now is the moment for women to enter AI and robotics, while the rules are still being writtenAndjela also shares hard-won lessons from her first startup, TreeBlock, and how shifting from building the solution to building the right path to adoption changed everything about how she runs Renovo.Chapters: 00:00 Introduction03:00 Andjela’s Founder Journey06:02 Engineering Background and Its Impact on Entrepreneurship08:40 Lessons from Previous Ventures: TreeBlock Experience11:38 The Problem of Solar Panel Waste and Recycling Challenges14:38 Identifying the Core Issues in Solar Panel Recycling17:34 Innovative Solutions for Solar Panel Deconstruction20:20 Modular Systems and Their Advantages in Recycling21:19 Targeting Solar Installers: A Strategic Approach23:51 Current Status and Future Plans for Renovo Recycling24:02 The Role of AI in Physical Recycling27:18 Preparing for the Solar Waste Surge30:23 Fundraising in Deeptech34:50 Convincing Stakeholders of Urgency37:38 Regulatory Support and Compliance39:04 Expanding Beyond Solar Panels40:58 Practical Insights for Founders45:30 Empowering Women in Tech49:37 Building a Supportive Funding EcosystemConnect with Andjela Bozinac and Renovo Recycling LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bozinac-andjela24/ Website: https://www.renovo-recycling.it/ Renovo on YouTube: https://youtube.com/@renovosrlCheck out the show notes on https://womendisruptingtech.blog/2026/05/28/episode-154/Women Disrupting Tech on Substackhttps://open.substack.com/pub/womendisruptingtech/p/episode-154?r=2v0lts&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=trueEnjoyed this episode? Follow Women Disrupting Tech on Spotify so you never miss a conversation with the women and ecosystem builders shaping the next generation of technology.

Most fertility apps look at your past cycles and make a prediction. Sabrina Nowicki built something different.Sabrina is co-founder of Cyclisity, the digital companion to Taking Charge of Your Fertility — the bestselling book written by her aunt, Toni Weschler. What started as an annual lunch celebrating her first period became a mission to bring body literacy to women worldwide — and to build an app that teaches you to read your own body instead of outsourcing that knowledge to an algorithm.What you’ll learnThe 3 biomarkers at the heart of the Fertility Awareness Method and why each one tells you something differentWhy the 28-day cycle myth is holding women back — and what stress, travel, and lifestyle really do to your cycleWhy Sabrina’s husband, a trained physician, was never taught any of this in medical schoolThe data privacy risk most women don’t know about when using free health appsWhy self-funding was a values decision, not just a financial oneChapters 00:00 The Influence of Family Legacy on Innovation 03:08 Understanding the Fertility Awareness Method 06:10 The Basic Principles of the Fertility Awareness Method11:53 Cyclisity: The Role of Education About Women's Health14:47 Challenges and Learning Curves in Fertility Awareness17:55 The Importance of Personalization in Health Apps 20:47 The Future of Women's Health Research 23:58 Data Privacy and Women's Health 29:44 Protecting User Data and Future Studies 32:21 Impact of Roe v. Wade on Privacy 35:05 The Advantages of Low-Tech Tracking 38:01 Self-Funding and Business Strategy 41:10 Leveraging Complementary Skills in Founding 44:09 Designing for Correct Use and User Experience 46:57 The Evolution of Cyclisity's Name 50:23 Empowering Female Founders through Investment📋 Full episode notes + Sabrina’s bio: [link to blog post]Connect with Sabrina:🌐 cyclisity.com📱 TikTok & Instagram: @wanderingSabrinaThe book behind the app:📖 Taking Charge of Your Fertility by Toni Weschler → https://amzn.eu/d/0cX3icbHIf this episode made you think differently about your body or your health data, hit follow so you never miss a new episode.