Joanna Strober, Midi Health CEO, on the menopause Tupperware parties that built a unicorn
Joanna Strober, CEO of Midi Health, joins Chrissy Farr to talk about building one of the first scaled companies in women's midlife health, and why the category didn't produce a unicorn until this year despite an obvious market need. They cover Midi's "B2B for show, B2C for dough" strategy, how a 150-patient pilot turned a hormone-access company into a full primary care business, and what changed when Joanna posted a public apology to patients on LinkedIn after a patch shortage overwhelmed the company's support team.
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SPONSOR: Baker Health
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LINKS:
Midi Health: https://www.joinmidi.com/
Chrissy Farr on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@LiferswithChristinaFarr
Chrissy Farr on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cfarr/
Subscribe to the Second Opinion Newsletter: https://secondopinion.media/
Chrissy’s Book: The Storyteller's Advantage: https://www.chrissyfarr.com/books
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FOLLOW:
Joanna:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/joannastrober
https://x.com/joannastrober
Chrissy:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/christinafarr/
https://x.com/chrissyfarr
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TIMESTAMPS:
(00:00) Lead In
(00:38) Intro
(02:14) Joanna's founder journey
(04:27) Lessons from Kurbo
(06:23) Why women's health is hard
(08:12) Midi's D2C brand bet
(12:30) What Midi actually treats
(14:36) Labs and diagnostics
(15:51) Sponsor: Baker Health
(17:06) GLP-1s and midlife weight
(20:55) Funding and timing tailwinds
(24:10) Founder advice: think bigger
(26:43) AI to scale empathy
(31:29) LinkedIn and trust building
(35:42) Destigmatizing menopause
(40:12) Organic marketing playbook
(42:41) Expansion, AI, and research
(45:22) Wrap
About the author
Christina Farr
Christina Farr is a healthcare writer and investor. Formerly at CNBC and Reuters, she covers digital health, startups, and policy, blending reporting with analysis and investing perspective to help leaders navigate healthcare’s evolving landscape.
New York City