S2E9 | She dropped out of Harvard to change the lives of 600M women in India — Achitha Jacob

What motivated Achita Jacob to shift her focus from a career in a Fortune 500 healthcare company to founding Proactive for Her, and how does she envision the impact of her work on women’s health in India?

Join us on another episode of Hard Truths By Vertex as we delve into the journey of Achita Jacob, the founder of Proactive for Her. Discover how Achita’s passion for women’s health led her to build a platform empowering Indian women to prioritize their own well-being. From overcoming challenges to fostering a thriving company culture, Achita’s story is a testament to resilience, determination, and the transformative power of putting oneself first.

Discussion Topics: She dropped out of Harvard to change the lives of 600M women in India

• What is Proactive For Her?
• Why did I drop out of Harvard?
• What were the ups and downs of the entrepreneurial journey?
• Online or offline business?
• How has the journey with Vertex been?
• How did I build education and awareness in this space?
• Are women willing to invest in their health?
• What does it take to be successful as a single founder?
• What’s the difference between being a leader and a manager?
• How resilience helped me get through the difficult times
• Closing

Guest: Achitha Jacob

Achitha Jacob is the founder of Proactive For Her. Proactive For Her is an omni-channel women’s health clinic offering judgement-free, personalised, and confidential healthcare solutions. They address the health concerns of Indian women across their lifetime – from puberty to menopause and beyond. Their services are available online, at home, and at their Bangalore clinics. Be it spreading awareness about annual check-ups to include pap smears and cancer screening, cervical cancer vaccination (HPV vaccination), STI/STD screening or helping women take that leap of faith and book their first gynaecology consultation, they want to empower every Indian woman to take charge of her own health and wellness journey.

Proactive has helped 50,000+ women learn more about their sexual and menstrual health and access quality medical care. Young and old(er) women love that Proactive is able to provide them a safe space to address their sexual, menstrual & reproductive health concerns. They have done extensive work on extremely niche and taboo topics like vaginismus, a condition which is not very well understood in India.

An alumnus of IIT-Bombay, Achitha dropped out of Harvard Business School to build Proactive For Her. She has previously worked with Fortune 500 healthcare companies and healthcare startups.