Decoding Consumer Healthcare Investing: Anarghya Vardhana on Diversifying the STEM Space

“Do one thing everyday that scares you.” This quote is a driving force behind everything our next guest does, from traveling to investing and everything in between. Anarghya Vardhana is a Partner at Maveron finding the next big direct to consumer business to invest and nurture. After years of working at Google and fintech startups, she entered into the VC space. In 2017, Anarghya was included in Forbes “30 under 30” list in venture capital.

In today’s episode, Anarghya talks about her lifelong love for STEM and her passion for diversifying this space. She shares why she loves finding new leaders through healthcare startups, and how doing one challenging thing every year positively impacts her self-confidence. 

Press play to hear Anarghya’s thoughts on…

Her Investment Philosophy 

“If you invest in one company, it may inch towards something else. So you may be solving the dietary side of things by investing in the women's health business, because sometimes those things can go hand in hand. But I think the best way to think about it is every year there's going to be one to two phenomenal entrepreneurs working in consumer healthcare, building in consumer healthcare. My job is to try and meet them and to get to know them and see if there's an opportunity to partner and be a part of their journey for whatever they're gonna build.”

Doing Hard Things to Instill Confidence

“Some people are just born with confidence. They just walk into the room and they're confident, and it's not that natural or innate for me. I have to work to be confident…Confidence comes from practice and hard work and knowing that I've done something that might be even harder than the thing I'm just about to do. And so that got me into the psyche of, ‘Well, if I just do hard things, then it'll help me be confident.’”