In this episode of Inspiring Women, host Laurie McGraw talks with Dr. Mitchell about her winding path — from doing home care visits with her mother as a kid, to global health work before medical school, to a career-defining project bringing a NASA-designed garment to treat obstetric hemorrhage in low-resource settings, to roles at the American Medical Association and Livongo, and finally to building Scrub Capital's clinician-led venture model from scratch.
They dig into why most VCs lack real insight into how healthcare actually works, what the Livongo story reveals about proving ROI in a skeptical market, and what she looks for in founders navigating a market where capital, technology, and buyer behavior are all shifting at different speeds.
Topics covered:
- Why Scrub Capital built a model letting clinicians invest and advise without leaving clinical work
- How Livongo trained the market to measure and pay for healthcare outcomes
- Portfolio examples: Phil (digital prescriptions) and Conceivable Life Sciences (IVF automation)
- The founder traits Dr. Mitchell looks for: grit, humility, and mission alignment
- Why "unsexy" problems — pricing, distribution, workflow — often matter more than new tech
- Her reflections on Dolly Parton and what real authenticity looks like in leadership
Dr. Mitchell closes with advice for women building careers that don't fit inside one box: do the work to figure out who you are, and don't be shy about sharing it with the world.
Guest: Dr. Rebecca Mitchell, Co-founder, Scrub Capital
Host: Laurie McGraw
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