From Science and Finance to Healthtech Entrepreneur: How Alison Gartner Combined STEM Degrees to Co-Found a health start-up- Evidentli and Rethink Impact Without a PhD

🎙️ From Science and Finance to Healthtech Entrepreneur: How Alison Gartner Combined Degrees to Co-Found Evidentli and Rethink Impact Without a PhD

Alison Gartner didn’t follow the traditional PhD path—instead, she blended molecular biology, economics, and investment experience to co-found Evidentli, a healthtech company helping clinicians unlock real-world data

🔍 What You’ll Learn:

• Why a PhD isn’t the only pathway to making a major impact in science
• How to combine diverse degrees into a career with exponential potential
• What it's like to go from biotech investor to healthtech startup co-founder
• Why timing, trust, and management are everything in co-founding teams
• How to price, pilot, and pitch a data product in conservative markets
• What early-stage funding really looks like—and how to survive it

🧠 About the Guest:

Alison Gartner is the co-founder and CFO of Evidentli, a healthtech startup transforming how healthcare providers query and interpret complex patient data. With a background in molecular biology, economics, and over a decade of biotech investment experience, Alison offers a rare dual lens: both founder and funder. Her path defies the traditional STEM career ladder, proving that the intersection of science and finance can be a launchpad for high-impact innovation.

📌 Episode Highlights:

00:00 Balancing passion and practicality in startup life

02:00 What Evidentli actually does and how it’s different

05:00 From biochemistry and economics to biotech investment

10:30 Investing in science: what startups need to know about funding

16:20 The hidden risks and rewards of venture capital

19:00 Why Alison stepped from the funder side to founder side

22:00 What makes clinicians trust data—and what doesn’t

25:00 Building Evidentli: co-founders, equity, and the first MVP

30:00 Pricing, piloting, and engaging first customers

38:00 Startups, salaries, and surviving the early years

45:00 What boards really do—and how to build one that fits your path

50:00 Mental load, income dips, and the psychological toll of entrepreneurship

56:00 Human failure vs. product failure: hard lessons from investment

01:00:00 Founder dynamics: how to manage equity, ego, and respect

🔗 Resources Mentioned:

• Evidentli – Official Website
• Alison Gartner on LinkedIn

🤔 Reflection Time:

1. What if your unusual mix of degrees is your biggest advantage?
2. Are you putting off entrepreneurship because you don’t “fit the mold”?
3. If you had to bootstrap your startup tomorrow, who would be in your inner circle—and why?

 

Want to craft a career story that opens doors?

I help STEMM professionals speak with clarity, confidence, and purpose and show up as thought leaders —so the right opportunities find you.

📬 Let’s connect: angeliquegreco.com.au | LinkedIn 

 

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