Women Disrupting Tech

How do you build the next generation of global gold standards in women’s health, and why is it one of the biggest economic opportunities of our time?In this episode, Carmen van Vilsteren — healthcare innovation leader, angel investor, and one of the Netherlands’ most experienced medical device executives — shares her mission to fund and coach seven female founders toward creating seven new gold standards in healthcare.Having spent decades at Philips developing cardiovascular imaging systems now used every second of every day in hospitals worldwide, Carmen is done advising from the sidelines. She’s getting her hands dirty — investing, coaching, and building the ecosystem that women’s health has always deserved.We dive deep into what it actually takes to create a global gold standard in healthcare, why women’s health represents a $1 trillion untapped economic opportunity, and how Carmen is shifting the conversation from niche issue to societal imperative.By listening, you'll learn about:The Seven Gold Standards: From microsurgery robotics to advanced breast reconstruction — why these innovations are poised to reshape global healthcare.The $1 Trillion Market Failure: Three times more money is spent on solving erection problems than on all women’s health issues combined. Carmen explains why that’s not just a gender issue — it’s an economic one. How to Build Credibility with Doctors: The three-level key opinion leader strategy that gets medical innovators from prototype to global adoption.Angel Investing as a Multiplier: How strategic early-stage investment helps female founders reach the inflection points that unlock serious venture capital.Shifting the Advocacy Language: Why framing women’s health as an economic opportunity — not a fairness issue — is the most effective way to move male-dominated Venture Capital.Connect with Carmen van Vilsteren:Connect with Carmen on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carmen-van-vilsteren-a069a49/ Resources mentioned:Fe+Male Tech Heroes: https://femaletechheroes.com/FemTech NL: https://www.femtechnl.com/Borski Fund: https://borskifund.comHealth Holland: https://health-holland.comCarmen's co-authored publication in The Lancet titled ‘Why investing in women's health is a societal imperative’: ⁠https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(26)00404-6/fulltext⁠Chapters:00:00 Introduction and Background in Tech and Healthcare03:57 Why Healthcare Became Carmen’s Passion07:24 Development of Imaging Systems for Cardiovascular Applications09:07 What Goes into Developing a Global Standard14:43 Carmen’s Ambition to Fund Seven Global Healthcare Standards17:01 Innovations in Preclinical and Clinical Imaging19:08 The Role of Acceptance and Credibility in Healthcare23:07 The Seven Golden Standards in Healthcare32:50 Changing the Healthcare Ecosystem and Gender Balance40:39 Women’s Health as a Societal Imperative44:21 Engaging Men in Women’s Health Advocacy49:24 Impact of Women’s Health on Society and Personal Life54:00 Angel Investing and Supporting Female Founders58:35 Paying Forward and Building a Support Ecosystem01:10:47 Netherlands as a Global Center for Women’s Health01:17:08 Vision for the Future of Healthcare and Innovation01:21:32 Advice for Female Founders and Investors01:22:48 Connecting with Carmen on LinkedInAbout Women Disrupting Tech: Hosted by Dirkjan Hupkes, Women Disrupting Tech features female founders, tech leaders, and women in STEM who are building the next generation of technology. We provide the actionable strategies and proven frameworks female entrepreneurs use to succeed.👉 Subscribe to Women Disrupting Tech on Spotify and Apple Podcasts for weekly insights from women reshaping the industry.

What if three wall plugs could transform how night nurses care for an entire nursing home floor?Femke Delissen is the co-founder of PAVA, a Dutch startup using a combination of Wi-Fi sensing technology and AI to help nurses in elderly care work more efficiently — without cameras, without wearables, and without sacrificing the privacy and dignity of residents.In this episode, Femke shares how she and her co-founders turned an AI master’s project in Amsterdam into a full-time startup, why they’ve stayed committed to healthcare despite the temptation of faster markets, and what top-level sports taught them about building a resilient founding team.You’ll hear about:How Wi-Fi signals through a wall plug can tell a nurse whether a resident is asleep, in the bathroom, or wandering a hallway — without a single cameraWhy Femke calls elderly care a “double problem” — and why solving it requires both technical innovation and a moral compassThe “first save” moment that proved their system worked, during a live night shift at their first paying customerHow all three founders’ sports positions still define how they lead todayWhat female founders get wrong about the funding journey in healthcare (hint: investors need numbers before they’ll listen to your vision)Why Femke says she’d “lose faith in society” if they pivoted to energy savings just because it was easierWhether you’re building in healthcare, navigating slow decision cycles, or looking for proof that you don’t always need a breakthrough invention to solve a real problem — this episode is for you.About Femke DelissenFemke Delissen is the co-founder and commercial lead of PAVA, a remote monitoring startup for elderly care based in the Netherlands. She holds an MSc in Artificial Intelligence from the University of Amsterdam and studied at UC Berkeley. Before going full-time on PAVA, she worked in a student-led consultancy at Sustainable Students Consultancy. She played hockey for HGC, at the highest competitive level in the Netherlands.Connect with Femke and PavaLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/femke-delissen/PAVA Website: pava.aiPAVA on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/pava-ai/Chapters00:00 Introduction02:40 From Education to Entrepreneurship09:38 Introducing Pava: Revolutionizing Elderly Care11:04 Addressing the Challenges in Healthcare14:57 Innovative Solutions: Wi-Fi Sensing Technology20:41 Personalized Care Through Data25:29 The Future of Monitoring: AI and Beyond31:51 Passion for Healthcare: A Personal Journey37:53 Navigating the Healthcare Landscape44:48 Funding Challenges in Healthcare Startups51:51 The Influence of Sports on Entrepreneurship57:12 Learning Through Community and CollaborationConnect with Women Disrupting TechSubscribe on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or YouTube so you never miss an episode.

How do you build a tech company that prioritizes real human connection over the endless swipe?In this episode, female founder Marsha Goei, Head of Brand at Breeze Social, shares her journey of disrupting the dating industry. By removing the chat function entirely, Marsha and her team have created a platform that skips the small talk and goes straight to face-to-face dates.We dive deep into the philosophy of human-centric tech, exploring how Marsha’s background in Industrial Design Engineering helped her build a product that solves the core problem of “app fatigue.” You’ll also hear the raw reality of navigating a seven-person founding team as the only woman and how to transition a startup culture from “family” to “professional team.”Key Takeaways from Marsha Goei:The “No-Chat” Model: How to validate a disruptive business model by focusing on real-world outcomes (dates) over app engagement metrics.Human-Centric Design: Using engineering frameworks to solve emotional and social problems in tech.Founder Resilience: Lessons on burnout prevention, identifying misalignment, and the power of heart-centered leadership.Operational Excellence: Why a high-performing “professional team” mindset is more sustainable than a “family” dynamic for scaling startups.Women in Leadership: Navigating gender dynamics in the 2026 tech ecosystem and building a culture of radical feedback.About Women Disrupting Tech:Hosted by Dirkjan Hupkes, Women Disrupting Tech features female founders, tech leaders, and women in STEM who are building the next generation of technology. We provide the actionable strategies and proven frameworks female entrepreneurs use to succeed.Connect with Marsha and Breeze Social:Connect with Marsha Goei on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marshagoei/Visit: ⁠https://breeze.social⁠Follow: @breeze.social on Instagram and TikTokChapters:00:00 Introduction02:20 Introducing Marsha Goei and Breeze05:22 The Journey to Entrepreneurship07:58 Building Breeze: The Concept of a Dating App11:14 Safety Features and User Commitment in Dating14:11 Validating the Breeze Concept17:05 From Concept to App Development19:55 Business Model Evolution and User Experience23:00 Design Philosophy and User-Centric Approach25:56 Success Metrics and User Feedback29:06 Navigating Gender Dynamics in Entrepreneurship35:18 Building a Feedback Culture38:24 The Shift from Family to Team41:11 Navigating Roles and Responsibilities45:07 The Journey of Self-Discovery52:39 Recognizing and Overcoming Burnout57:17 The Role of Investors in Growth1:03:55 Empowering Female Founders through Community👉 Subscribe to Women Disrupting Tech on Spotify and Apple Podcasts for weekly insights from women reshaping the industry.

Every visionary founder needs a disciplined operator to translate "big ideas" into functional reality. In this episode, host Dirkjan Hupkes sits down with Eliza Moore, EVP of Client Experience & Operations at Prizeout, to deconstruct the unique mental models required to scale a startup from the ground up.Eliza shares her journey from New York financial services to the fast-paced world of fintech, offering a rare look at the "how" behind successful execution. We dive deep into the Data Chain Mental Model, a framework for better business decisions, and discuss why the most successful Women in Tech aren't just building products—they are building the systems that allow those products to thrive.What You’ll LearnThe Founder-Operator Dynamic: Why the "Why" and the "How" must work in perfect symbiosis.The Data Chain: A 7-step mental model to move from raw data to impactful business decisions.Scaling Smart: When to lean on "generalists" and when it’s time to bring in the "specialists."The Power of 'No': Why saying no is the most important skill for an operator during a growth phase.Fintech & Credit Unions: Why traditional financial institutions are becoming a surprising hub for innovation and female leadership.Chapters00:00 Introduction02:33 Eliza Moore's Journey to Prizeout09:36 Understanding Prizeout's Unique Fintech Model13:58 The Role of Credit Unions in Financial Services20:34 The Operator vs. Founder Dynamic26:40 Lessons from Mentorship and Leadership35:03 The Importance of Operators in Business43:08 Mental Models for Success in Funding44:28 Closing Thoughts and Where to ConnectConnect with Eliza Moore and PrizeoutEliza Moore on LinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/elizamoore/⁠Prizeout website: ⁠⁠https://www.prizeout.com/⁠⁠The Data Chain Framework: https://medium.com/data-science/12-mental-models-for-data-science-f2e2133d85eaAbout Women Disrupting TechHosted by Dirkjan Hupkes, this show features the female founders and tech leaders building the next generation of technology companies. We provide actionable strategies for female entrepreneurs, startup leaders, and advocates for diversity in STEM.Subscribe & Review If you enjoyed this "Operator’s Playbook," please leave a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. It helps us reach more women disrupting the tech landscape!

Whoever controls the narrative holds the power to influence others. But for female founders, storytelling isn't just about marketing — it's a leadership tool that can reshape how you're seen, heard, and followed.In this episode of Women Disrupting Tech, I talk with Jennifer Cloer, founder of Story Changes Culture and creator of the Chasing Grace Project, about why storytelling is a leadership imperative that requires embracing tension, emotion, and your own lived experience. Jennifer explains how her decade at the Linux Foundation taught her the anatomy of a great story, why "narrative power is cultural power," and what it takes to architect an origin story that connects with investors, teams, and customers.This episode is for female founders, women in tech, startup leaders, and entrepreneurs who want to understand how to use their personal stories to lead, influence, and drive real business growth.What you'll learn in this episode:Why narrative power is cultural power, and why whoever tells the story holds influenceHow to architect your founder origin story (characters, tension, stakes, and resolution)Why humans don't change behavior unless emotionally triggered, and what that means for leadershipThe "dreams and nightmares" framework for understanding what your audience truly wants and fearsWhy the personal is the professional, and how your lived experience is your most powerful assetWhat "agency" in storytelling means and why stories fall flat without itHow the Chasing Grace Project became "rocket fuel" for women in tech to ask for raises and leave toxic jobsChapters: 00:00 Introduction02:07 The Birth of Story Changes Culture07:20 The Chasing Grace Project: Empowering Women Through Storytelling12:13 The Importance of Storytelling in Leadership18:51 Authenticity in Storytelling: Balancing Personal and Professional21:13 Embracing Emotion in Storytelling21:23 Harnessing Tension in Storytelling22:56 Filling the Gap: Story Changes Culture Masterclass25:39 Elements of a Compelling Story28:42 Overcoming Skepticism in Art and Storytelling31:26 The Role of Agency in Storytelling32:59 Choosing the Right Perspective35:33 Underused Storytelling Elements for Women FoundersConnect with Jennifer Cloer and Story Changes CultureJennifer Cloer on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennifercloer/Personal Website: https://www.jennifercloer.com/Story Changes Culture website: https://www.storychangesculture.com/Story Changes Culture on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/storychangesculture/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/story_changesculture/Substack: https://storychangesculture.substack.com/More about Women Disrupting TechThe full show notes on the website: https://womendisruptingtech.blog/2026/04/09/episode-147/Our Substack Newsletter: https://open.substack.com/pub/womendisruptingtech/p/episode-147🎧 Listen to Women Disrupting Tech on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or YouTube. 👉 Subscribe for more conversations with women building the future of tech through storytelling and leadership.