You've spent months building your FemTech product. You've validated the problem with users, iterated on features, and polished your pitch deck.
Then an investor asks about your clinical advisory board, and you freeze.
Maybe you don't have one yet, or you have a clinician friend who said they'd "help out when needed." Or maybe you’ve added a well-known doctor to your website but haven't spoken to them in months.
If any of this sounds familiar, you're not alone. But you need to know that clinical advisors aren't just credentials for your pitch deck. They're fundamental to building a FemTech product that's credible, safe, and actually helps women.
Who’s a Clinical Advisor?
A clinical advisor is a healthcare professional, usually a physician, nurse practitioner, or specialist, who provides ongoing guidance on the medical aspects of your product. This is not a consultant you hire once to review your content.
A true clinical advisor:
Shapes your product strategy from a medical perspective. They help you understand whether your solution aligns with clinical best practices, evidence-based medicine, and real-world healthcare workflows.
Validates your clinical claims. Before you tell users your app can "help manage PCOS symptoms" or "predict ovulation," your advisor ensures those claims are defensible, accurate, and won't land you in regulatory trouble.
Guides feature development. They help you prioritize which features will have the most clinical impact versus which ones just sound impressive but add little value.
Connects you to the healthcare ecosystem. The right advisor opens doors to partnerships with hospitals, clinics, and research institutions that can amplify your reach.
Think of a clinical advisor as the bridge between your innovation and the clinical world. You bring the technology and user experience. They bring the medical expertise and credibility that make your product trustworthy.
Why FemTech Needs Clinical Advisors Even More
FemTech operates in a particularly complex space. You're not building a productivity app. You're building tools that impact women's health, and health is high-stakes.
Women's Health Is Medically Complex
Hormones fluctuate. Symptoms vary widely between individuals. Conditions like PCOS, endometriosis, and perimenopause present differently in different women.
Without clinical guidance, it's easy to build features based on what "sounds right" rather than what the evidence actually supports. Your advisor ensures your product reflects the complexity of women's bodies, not oversimplified assumptions.
Women Have Been Let Down by Healthcare
Women are routinely dismissed, misdiagnosed, and told their symptoms are "just stress." They've learned to be skeptical, especially of new health products.
If your product makes claims it can't back up, women will notice. And they'll lose trust not just in you, but in FemTech as a category.
Regulatory Scrutiny Is Real
Depending on what your product does, you may be classified as a medical device, which comes with FDA or equivalent regulatory requirements. Even wellness products face scrutiny if they make health claims.
Clinical advisors help you navigate this landscape. They understand the difference between a “wellness claim” and a “medical claim,” and that distinction can determine your entire regulatory pathway.
Investors Want Clinical Credibility
Investors in FemTech are increasingly sophisticated. They've seen too many products that overpromise and underdeliver. They've watched companies stumble because they didn't understand the clinical nuances of the problems they were solving.
When investors see a strong clinical advisory board, they see risk mitigation. They see a team that takes medical accuracy seriously. They see a product that's more likely to succeed because it's built on a solid clinical foundation.
Healthcare Partnerships Require Clinical Validation
If you want hospitals to recommend your product, health systems to integrate your platform, or insurance companies to reimburse your solution, you'll need clinical validation. And that validation is much more credible when it comes from respected clinicians who've been involved in your product development from the start.
What Happens When You Get It Wrong
I've seen the consequences play out repeatedly:
The “Big Name” trap: A founder brings in a well-known expert who never actually contributes, leaving the team unable to explain their role.
The “Wrong Specialty” mistake: The team’s only medical advisor doesn’t match the product’s needs, raising doubts about their understanding.
The “No Clinical Voice” gap: The product is built without medical guidance, and major features later conflict with clinical standards.
The “Overpromise” disaster: Lacking proper oversight, the company makes unsupported health claims and faces regulatory and trust issues.
All of these are preventable with the right clinical advisor from the start.
What Happens When You Get It Right
When you choose the right clinical advisors and integrate them meaningfully into your product development:
Your product becomes clinically sound, with features grounded in evidence
Your marketing is defensible, with every claim backed by research or clinical consensus
Investors take you seriously because they see expertise and responsibility
Healthcare providers become advocates for your product
Women trust you because real medical experts believe in your solution
In Summary
Choosing a clinical advisor isn't about collecting impressive credentials for your pitch deck. It's about:
bringing medical expertise into the heart of your product development process.
building something that doesn’t just look innovative but actually works clinically, practically, and safely.
bridging the gap between technology and healthcare in a way that truly serves women.
The women using your product deserve solutions that are not only innovative but also trustworthy, evidence-based, and built with their health at the center.
Next week, I'll show you exactly how to find and choose clinical advisors who will genuinely move your company forward, not just add their name to your website.
Are you building a FemTech startup and need help with clinical positioning? Better Woman Health delivers weekly insights on credibility, clinical claims, and evidence-based content.