Sabrina Runbeck spent a decade in cardiothoracic surgery. She operated on hearts. Now she operates on healthtech companies—fixing what's broken before founders even see it themselves.

As co-founder of PulsePoint Path and the Health Tech Impact Awards, plus Chief Strategy Officer at Health Board Advisors, Sabrina teaches founders something critical: your pitch deck means nothing if you can't clearly explain who you help and what problem you solve in under two minutes.

Many founders get this backwards. They pitch everywhere—conferences, investor calls, demo days. Lots of top-of-funnel activity, lots of conversations. Then nothing happens because they never learned how to follow through. They're building companies like side projects.

Episode Highlights:

• Healthtech founders waste precious time telling 10-minute background stories instead of getting straight to traction, core problem solved, and what makes them different from every other startup at the conference.
• Health Tech Impact Awards runs like a founder bootcamp—free application, two-minute video pitch, public voting, then final six compete in a game show format that teaches you to speak investor language.
• Women make up 70-80% of the clinical healthcare workforce but less than 15% on the venture side and barely 20-30% in executive leadership—Sabrina's TED Talk breaks down the 3% problem.
• Sabrina assesses founders across five levels: body communication, psychological profile, natural skillset, behavior patterns, and spiritual purpose—if your deepest values don't align with company mission, you'll burn out.
• Clinician advisors with 10+ years experience can join Health Board Advisors to vet startups, guide product development, and help bridge early-stage companies to venture partners who understand clinical workflow reality.

Applications for Health Tech Impact Awards close March 1st. Six categories: diagnostic, digital health, medical device, biotech, mental health, women's health. Winners get featured on The Tech Glow Up.

Watch the full episode to hear why Sabrina thinks we need more clinicians making investment decisions early, not waiting for big hospital systems and VCs to catch up.

Get Seen by the Right Investors, Not Just Any Investors
Third-party validation is the trust shortcut most founders overlook. Apply now for the HealthTech Impact Awards—six categories, one chance to be seen by capital-ready backers.

Nominations close March 1, 2026
HealthTechImpactAward.com

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