Qyn Labs founder and CEO Shilpi Gupta recently joined Harvard Women in Entrepreneurship for an inspiring conversation about building a deep tech company, putting customers first, and creating meaningful change through innovation.
What began as an opportunity to share Qyn's mission and the journey behind building a new approach to hormone health became a thoughtful exchange with the next generation of women entrepreneurs.
The students brought ambitious ideas, insightful questions, and a clear understanding of the problems they hope to solve. Their curiosity and enthusiasm reinforced an important belief: entrepreneurship isn't defined by a perfect résumé or a traditional path. It's driven by the willingness to ask difficult questions, challenge existing approaches, and build solutions that make a meaningful difference.
Throughout the conversation, Shilpi shared several lessons from her own entrepreneurial journey and the experience of building Qyn.
You Don't Need a Perfect Résumé to Build a Deep Tech Company
Building a deep tech company requires curiosity, persistence, and a willingness to understand a problem at every level.
While experience can be valuable, it isn't the only path to innovation. Sometimes, approaching an established industry with a fresh perspective allows entrepreneurs to recognize opportunities that others have overlooked.
For aspiring founders, Shilpi emphasized the importance of understanding the layers of the problem they're trying to solve and remaining curious enough to keep learning.
You don't need to have every answer before you begin. You need to be willing to ask questions, seek expertise, and continue learning as you build.
Be Obsessed with the Customer, Not Just the Technology
Technology should exist to solve a real problem.
At Qyn, that principle guides the development of an at-home, blood-based hormone measurement system designed to help women better understand how their hormone levels change over time.
For a woman navigating perimenopause, menopause, or hormone therapy, the goal isn't simply to have access to another piece of technology or another health metric.
She wants to understand what's happening in her body, how her hormones are changing, and what those changes might mean for her individual experience.
By keeping the needs of women at the center of product development, Qyn is working to bridge the gap between isolated hormone measurements and a more personalized understanding of hormone health.
It's a reminder that innovation begins with listening to the people you're building for.
Credibility Is Earned, Not Marketed
Trust is essential when building a product that people may rely on to better understand their health.
For Shilpi, credibility comes from demonstrating real results, being transparent about what a technology can and cannot do, and showing people how their personal health information will be protected.
As Qyn continues to develop its technology, these principles remain central to the company's approach.
Building trust requires more than communicating a compelling vision. It means doing the work to support that vision through science, responsible product development, and a commitment to the people the technology is intended to serve.
Build Something You Believe In
Shilpi also encouraged the students to think deeply about what motivates them to become entrepreneurs.
Her own experiences inspired her to question why women have historically had such limited visibility into their changing hormone levels and what could be possible if hormone measurement became more accessible.
That personal connection helped inspire the creation of Qyn.
But she emphasized that founders don't necessarily need to have experienced a problem themselves to build a meaningful solution.
What matters is finding a problem they genuinely care about solving and being honest about their motivation for pursuing it.
Entrepreneurship requires persistence, especially when building something new. Having a meaningful connection to the work can help sustain that commitment through the inevitable challenges of bringing an idea to life.
Looking Ahead to the Next Generation of Women Entrepreneurs
The conversation at Harvard was an opportunity to share the Qyn story, but it was also a reminder of the extraordinary potential of the next generation of women founders.
Their ambition, curiosity, and thoughtful questions reflect a future in which more women are not only participating in innovation but helping define the problems worth solving.
A special thank you to the Harvard Women in Entrepreneurship board for hosting Shilpi and to every student who participated in the conversation and stayed afterward to continue asking questions.
We look forward to seeing what you build.
Interested in what we're building at Qyn?
Qyn is developing an at-home, blood-based hormone measurement system designed to help women better understand their changing hormone levels over time.
Join our free waitlist to follow our progress, receive early updates, and learn about opportunities to be among the first to experience Qyn.
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