From Doubted Idea to Trusted Startup: The Tiny Health Story with Cheryl Sew Hoy

Cheryl Sew Hoy, multi-time entrepreneur and CEO of Tiny Health, proves that conviction can be stronger than credentials.

From selling her first startup to Walmart Labs, to leading a $30M initiative in Southeast Asia under President Obama, to now serving over 80,000 families with gut health testing—her journey is anything but ordinary.

Cheryl opens up about the hard truths of building in health tech: why prevention is a tough sell, what founder-market fit really means, and how integrity and resilience kept her going even when she faced corruption, politics, and personal threats. 

If you’ve ever wondered what separates great founders from the rest, Cheryl lays it bare: obsession, execution, and the courage to learn fast. 

This is not a polished Silicon Valley success story—it’s raw, real, and packed with lessons every entrepreneur needs to hear.

Key Topics:

-Founder market fit and why conviction matters

-The challenge of selling prevention versus solving urgent pain

-Building trust without credentials through science and transparency

-Hiring early employees and shaping culture from the start

-Resilience and integrity in the face of threats and setbacks

Quote From The Episode:

“Sometimes the best founders aren’t experts at the start, but they’re willing to do anything to become one.”

-Cheryl Sew Hoy

Timestamp:

[00:15] Nobody Wanted Prevention (So I Built a Company That Changed Everything)

[15:34] How a Founder Without Medical Training Built a Health Company From Scratch

[27:26] Why The Best Founders Don’t Rely on Expertise—They Build It

[38:23] From Death Threats to Breaking Silence: How One Founder Refused to Back Down

[50:52] The Hardest Lessons I Learned About Hiring and Culture as a Founder

[1:02:26] How I Built a Startup While Raising Three Kids and Reading 10,000 Customer Emails

[1:12:58] The Single Superpower Every Founder Needs to Succeed

[1:17:56] Outro

Connect with - Cheryl Sew Hoy:

LinkedIn - linkedin.com/in/cherylyeoh

Website - https://www.tinyhealth.com/

Connect to Entrepreneurial-Excellence Podcast:

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