Q+A with Amanda French

Amanda French is the co-founder and CEO of Emme, a health tech company that is revolutionizing birth control. Emme invented the first smart, connected pill case for birth control pill management. 

Prior to founding Emme, Amanda developed breakthrough heart valve technology as an R&D engineer with Edwards Lifesciences, and she went on to develop state-of-the-art hearing aids at Earlens. Amanda was a 2016-2017 Innovation Fellow at the Stanford Byers Center for Biodesign, a Ferolyn Fellow in 2018-2019 with the Fogarty Institute for Innovation, and she holds a BS in Mechanical Engineering from Duke University. 

Can you tell our readers about your background?

My background is in health technology innovation. I studied mechanical engineering at Duke and then worked in the medical device industry as an R&D engineer. I have had the opportunity to develop cutting edge technology including transcatheter heart valves and the first and only hearing aid that works by vibrating the eardrum, and I apply my prior experience towards driving innovation in women’s health at Emme. Prior to founding Emme, I was an Innovation Fellow at the Stanford Byers Center for Biodesign, which is where I uncovered the unmet needs that we are addressing at Emme. 

What inspired you to start your business?

At Stanford Biodesign, I had the opportunity to observe hundreds of unmet needs at the hospital and clinics, and I was surprised by the lack of innovation in women’s health. I interviewed and surveyed hundreds of women who shared the stress and consequences they experience as the result of missing birth control pills – the most common form of contraception. After realizing that the most common problem for the most popular form of contraception had not been solved, I knew there was a big opportunity to make an impact with technology.

Where is your business based?

Our headquarters are in San Francisco, but we support a remote, distributed work environment and have team members across many cities in the US. We also work with top-tier international partners who supply premium components for our hardware. 

How did you start your business? What were the first steps you took?

Emme started with an idea, a sketch, and a basic prototype. I had the hypothesis that connected hardware could make a major impact on birth control pill adherence by tracking pill consumption, updating an app with the data, and enabling the app to send relevant reminders when the pill is missed. I built the first prototype with grant funding while I was still at Stanford, and I ran a small pilot where women validated that the product was both effective and empowering. This proof of concept enabled me to close our first round of funding to develop the Emme Smart Case. 

What has been the most effective way of raising awareness for your business?

Everybody has a friend who has experienced the missed pill problem, and most women have experienced it themselves. Because of this, word of mouth for Emme is very strong. We have a great community of people who are excited about the innovation we are bringing to women’s health, and many of our customers have heard about Emme through their friends. 

What have been your biggest challenges and how did you overcome them?

We were scheduled to start our hardware design verification back in March 2020, right around the time when San Francisco established shelter-in-place due to COVID-19. At the time, we had already experienced disruptions to our global supply chain due to the pandemic. Our team got creative and found opportunities to re-write our verification plans and work with our suppliers to mitigate component risk. We ultimately overcame the unexpected impact of the global environment by staying flexible, nimble, and creative, and by being realistic in our plans about what the world was going to look like for the foreseeable future, rather than waiting for things to go back to “normal.” 

How do you stay focused?

I am passionate about advancing health technology in women’s health, which makes it easy to stay focused. I know the work we are doing is important and has the potential to have a major impact. In a startup, there are always so many opportunities and limited resources, which makes prioritization key. To determine what is best for the company to focus on, I review all our opportunities, the effort required to achieve them, and their potential impact. There is always an opportunity cost – focusing on a few strategic priorities necessitates de-prioritizing other potential projects. These decisions are much easier when there is a clear understanding of impact versus effort, and we strive to work on initiatives that have the biggest impact on driving the business forward.   

 How do you differentiate your business from the competition?

There are many companies focused exclusively on pill delivery, but we know from our market research that the number one challenge people face with the pill is adherence. We also offer a free app, which has advanced features for pill and cycle tracks. Our users love that we offer the ability to customize their reminder profile with multiple reminder times and types, and our reminders auto-update when a user travels to a new time zone. Many apps offer a limited view of the female experience and focus only on pregnancy or periods. We offer a much more comprehensive, integrated view, that considers many of the real symptoms, experiences, and side effects that people want to track every day.

What has been your most effective marketing strategy to grow your business?

Our community has been incredibly helpful in helping drive awareness about Emme. Like many new brands, we are also building awareness with ads and organic content on digital platforms. Because we are addressing an underserved market, we have found that audiences are very receptive and excited to learn more about the Emme Smart Case. 

What's your best piece of advice for aspiring and new entrepreneurs?

One of the biggest keys to success is maintaining the commitment to move forward, and trusting that you will be able to navigate the unknown obstacles when they present themselves. For example, I didn’t know who would lead our investment when we got started, but I knew I would find the right investors if I stayed focused on driving as much business progress as quickly as possible. Some aspiring entrepreneurs get stuck with analysis paralysis, overwhelmed by all the options for how to start a business, and fear of what could go wrong. I like to think of the founder’s journey as a creative process – there is no “right” answer for how to start, and with each decision, you move further along the path of entrepreneurship and get one step closer towards realizing your business vision.

What's your favorite app, blog, and book? Why?

I think meditation can be such a helpful, grounding practice, and I enjoy using the meditation trainer and companion app from Core, a fellow Bolt portfolio company. I follow a number of blogs to stay up today on women’s health and wellness, and some of my favorites include Blood+Milk, and The Spot. The number one business book I recommend to my peers has Never Split the Difference – it has great tips on win-win negotiation and standing up for your perspective! 

What's your favorite business tool or resource? Why?

I find it helpful to follow the journeys of other founders and learn from their experiences – my favorite resource for this is the podcast How I Built This with Guy Raz. It’s fascinating and relatable to hear from leaders of major global businesses and hear the behind the scenes stories from the early days.

Who is your business role model? Why?

My business role model is Deborah Kilpatrick, CEO of Evidation Health, who serves on the Emme Board of Directors. Deb has pioneered the digital health industry through the democratization of patient data and facilitation of distributed, digital, clinical trials at Evidation, and she is also a major advocate for women’s equity as the founder of MedTech Women, an organization which I now volunteer with as well. I met Deb at a MedTech Women conference years ago, which demonstrates the power of putting yourself out there and introducing yourself to your role models – you never know where it could lead. 

How do you balance work and life?

I’ll be honest – there are many times as a founder building a company where work and life are one and the same. However, it is so important to take breaks and focus on life outside of work. I like to set my goals for the week and schedule them in advance via time-blocking; this enables me to make sure I have healthy boundaries on my schedule and am leaving enough time in my week to maintain my personal life.   

What’s your favorite way to decompress?

I love spending quality time with family and friends, though that time has been much more virtual these days. Some of my favorite activities include cooking, reading, and dancing – I have enjoyed dancing since childhood and I think the creative energy it brings helps me be a better innovator.

What do you have planned for the next six months?

We recently launched the Emme Smart Case, so we are focused on scaling that product over the next six months. We also have a few exciting new initiatives coming soon – stay tuned.

How can our readers connect with you?

We love hearing from readers and encourage you to join our Emme community on Instagram (@meetemme), Facebook (@try.emme), Medium (@meetemme), and by subscribing to our mailing list. You can always reach out at hello@emme.com.