Ep 46 | Dr. Iman Abuzeid
Big Success Requires Big Sacrifice
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Dr. Iman Abuzeid is the CEO and co-founder of Incredible Health, a digital platform that helps streamline the hiring process for nurses and recruiting hospitals.
Iman was heavily influenced to take risks from a young age, as she saw both of her grandfathers make an impact through their businesses in Sudan. However, entrepreneurship seemed to skip a generation and, when her father became an ENT surgeon, she and her brothers followed in his footsteps.
Halfway through med school, Iman realized that she didn’t want to be a practitioner. She wanted to take the skills she had learned into the corporate world. After receiving her MBA and getting some consulting experience under her belt, she decided to leave Silicon Valley and make her own mark on the world. After a failed venture with her first startup, she pivoted quickly and that’s when Incredible Health was born.
Today, Incredible Health is used by hundreds of hospitals across the US and has raised $17 million from top-tier firms like Andreessen Horowitz to fuel its mission.
In today’s episode, Iman shares how she navigated multiple career pivots, from originally wanting to become a medical doctor to coming up with a new business idea after her first didn’t succeed, how she approached the fundraising process and brought in reputable investors, and the key advice she gives all founders when they’re looking to pivot from their corporate job to follow their passion.
Show Notes:
Hear more about Iman’s childhood, from Sudan to Saudi Arabia to the US. [2:35]
When the entrepreneurial itch started and the greater impact Iman wanted to make. [3:30]
Why she decided to pursue an MBA and go the Silicon Valley route once she graduated from medical school. [4:27]
How this decision to completely change careers was received by her family. [6:30]
The different perceptions of risk that might motivate you to make a career pivot. [7:35]
Iman’s advice for those considering a pivot: think about where you want to end up. [8:09]
Some of the benefits of business school, including the credibility it lends you. [10:16]
Find out why having a broad, reliable network is key as an entrepreneur. [12:38]
What joining an early stage startup taught Iman about technology and launching a product. [13:40]
Hear more about her first entrepreneurial venture and what she learned from failing. [15:13]
Why Iman believes that founders should invest heavily in ideation before execution. [17:23]
Iman describes what the process of ideating Incredible Health looked like. [20:42]
How they convinced hospitals to come on board using unique insight and hustle. [21:51]
Why fundraising is a skill to be built and improved; the value of narrative. [26:22]
Rejection is something entrepreneurs need to get accustomed to; the importance of creating tactics to deal with it. [28:44]
Iman also emphasizes the importance of really selling your vision; be ambitious! [30:57]
A framework for pivoting to your passion: start with the end game in mind and optimize cash, lifestyle, or skills and learning. [33:48]
The challenges COVID presented for her business and how she overcame them. [37:13]
Iman reflects on the need for rapid adjustment at the beginning of the pandemic. [40:20]
Follow Incredible Health:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/incrediblehealth/
Website: https://www.incrediblehealth.com/
Behind Her Empire Featured Entrepreneur:
Amira Polack, founder of Struct Club, a mobile app that provides instructors with software that simplifies planning and coaching a class.
Learn more about Struct Club at https://www.structclub.com/ and follow Amira on Instagram @amirapolack.
