Applications open · Summer 2026 cohort · Early bird closes September 1, 2026 — two add-ons free
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A private strategy room for women building in health.
A private curated strategy room for women building in health innovation. Founder strategy. Investor perspective. Science-backed wellness in partnership with Aydan Jordan, MBA. One day in NYC, six founders, entirely off the record. $595 for the day, with a 30% discount and priority application for the First Check Collective.
Be bold. Be creative. Be yourself.
- Cohort
- Six founders
- Hours
- 11am – 5pm
- Early bird
- Sept 1
- Admissions
- Rolling
Women at the start of a meaningful chapter.
- 01
Founders preparing to raise, or quietly repositioning between rounds.
- 02
Operators considering the move from a senior seat into their own company.
- 03
Scientists and clinicians turning original research into a business.
- 04
Women at an inflection point who want a small room, not a stage.
A creative, interactive wellness schedule for builders.
11am to 5pm. Most sessions run thirty minutes. The movement hour and lunch each run sixty, and the closing podcast roundtable runs forty-five. A fifteen-minute sunlight meditation and breathwork session sits right before the recording. Lunch holds two passive workshops on traction and non-dilutive grants. Every founder walks away with deliverables.
- 11:0030 min
Arrival & opening circle
Summer 2026Coffee, unhurried introductions, and one decision each founder has come into the room to make.
- 11:3030 min
Business model, worked live
Summer 2026Each company's business model is pressure-tested at the whiteboard, in a think tank session. Templates included.
- 12:0030 min
Product–market fit
Summer 2026Sharpening the wedge: who exactly you serve first, what they will pay for, and what you will build later.
- 12:3060 min
Movement hour with Aydan Jordan
Summer 2026 · Longer blockAn exercise-as-medicine session inside the curriculum on building a company you can run for a decade. A full hour by design.
In partnership with Aydan Jordan, exercise-as-medicine practitioner.
- 1:3060 min
Lunch — with two working workshops
Summer 2026 · Longer block · two workshops includedA seated lunch on the terrace with two short workshops running alongside the meal. Both are included in the day and expand below.
Workshop A · Traction
The traction frameworks to use — what to measure now, what to retire, and a metric each founder will report back on in thirty days. Templates and tracker included.
Workshop B · Non-dilutive grants
A working walk-through of the non-dilutive landscape for women's health and life-sciences founders in NYC — what's open, who wins, and a one-page application template to start drafting.
- 3:0030 min
Business development
Summer 2026Pipelines, partnerships, and the ten relationships that will define the next twelve months.
- 3:3030 min
Investor perspective
Summer 2026How early-stage women's health and life-sciences capital is actually deployed in NYC right now, based off ecosystem & market research.
- 4:0015 min
Sunlight meditation & breathwork
Summer 2026Fifteen quiet minutes on the rooftop before the recording. Guided breath and sunlight to settle nerves and walk into the podcast clear-headed.
- 4:1545 min
FirstCheck podcast — cohort roundtable
Summer 2026 · Longer blockThe full cohort closes the day with one roundtable episode recorded on-site. One conversation, six voices, released as part of the launch season.
Recorded by FirstCheck. Released as part of the launch season.
- 5:00—
Close, warm intros & goodie bags
Summer 2026One commitment per founder, warm intros made live across the cohort to investors, operators, and clinical partners (included in the day), a group photo, and a curated take-home bag from the day's partners.
A mentor pair, not a keynote.
Included with acceptance — not an add-on.
Every accepted founder is paired 1:1 with a health executive or investor matched to their stage and sector — a flexible one-to-six month commitment with monthly office hours. The pair is proposed by us on acceptance and confirmed by both sides before the day.
- Matched to your stage
Pre-seed through Series A, in women's health or adjacent life-sciences.
- Flexible commitment
One to six months, ended by either side, with a clean handoff.
- Monthly office hours
One structured working hour a month, plus async between.
- Included with acceptance
No add-on fee. The pairing lands the week you're accepted.
On-day partners.
Exercise-as-medicine practitioner. Leads the movement hour and frames physical practice as part of building a company you can run for a decade.
The FirstCheck Podcast
The cohort closes the day with a single 45-minute roundtable, recorded on-site and released as part of the launch season.
We're curating a short list of partners for Summer 2026 across women's health, clinical, brand, and capital. If your company wants to be in the room with this cohort, write to us.
A strategy room for women's health, in the city built for it.
New York is already the densest place in the country for women's health innovation — more women in life sciences, more women's health venture deals, and more women-led FemTech companies than any other US city. The category is being written here. What it still doesn't have is a strategy room for the founders writing it. The Sunlit Strategy Series is that room.
- NYC is a thriving women's health innovation hub — and 58% of life-sciences workers here are women, a deeper bench of female scientists, clinicians, and operators than any other US city.
- NYC has closed more women's health venture deals over the last five years than any other US city, and is now home to roughly 13% of US FemTech founders.
- The resources exist — capital, clinical access, talent, three of the country's largest academic medical systems within a few subway stops. What has never existed is a room for women to innovate in a collaborative, fun, low-ego space.
- Sunlit Strategy Series is that room — the flagship gathering of the First Check Collective, the media + community platform for women building and betting on the future of health.
Source: NYCEDC / LifeSci NYC, Women's Health Innovation in New York City (May 2026).
Sunlit Strategy Series
A full day in NYC for six women building in health innovation — working sessions, movement hour, lunch workshops, investor perspective, and the closing podcast roundtable. You leave with deliverables, warm intros, and a 1:1 mentor pairing.
$595 for the room. $50 for anything extra.
The day is a premium, small-room session — not a free meetup. Members of the First Check Collective receive 30% off the ticket.
All working sessions, movement hour, lunch, podcast roundtable, and the take-home goodie bag. Walk away with deliverables — templates, agents, workflows, and a sharpened pitch deck.
Members receive 30% off the full-day ticket — plus priority application review and a discount code for future cohorts.
- Spotlight Feature
A founder spotlight in the First Check newsletter & podcast
$50 - Brand asset pack
Logo, type, and a small set of launch-ready brand assets.
$50 - 30-day action plan
A written plan of the next thirty days, built from your session notes.
$50 - 1:1 strategy meeting with the host
A follow-up working session with Natalie after the day.
$50
More add-ons coming soon
Apply before September 1 and choose two add-ons on the house.
Any two of the $50 add-ons — spotlight feature, brand asset pack, 30-day action plan, or a 1:1 strategy meeting with the host — included free for founders whose applications arrive by September 1, 2026. Admissions are reviewed on a rolling basis through Fall 2026. Note your two picks in the application email.
Share the day.
The Sunlit Strategy Series pamphlet — what to expect, who it's for, and the Summer 2026 cohort at a glance.
Write to us.
We curate a cohort, not a ticket list. $595 for the full day, 30% off for First Check Collective, and every accepted founder is paired with a 1:1 mentor. Early bird closes September 1, 2026 — two add-ons on the house. Admissions are reviewed on a rolling basis Rolling through Fall 2026.
Pick any add-ons below, then open the pre-filled email. Nothing to create, no separate form — it drafts straight to natalieboykoff@gmail.com.
- Strategy day
- $595
- Add-ons (0 × $50)
- $0
- Subtotal
- $595
- Total
- $595
Estimate only · final invoice sent on acceptance · replies within 48 hours
A waterfront workroom with the NYC skyline in the window.
We host the day at a private NYC coworking floor on the East River — quiet lounges, a long outdoor table for lunch, soundproof booths for calls, a rooftop terrace for movement and the breathwork session, and the Manhattan skyline behind the podcast recording.
Click any photo to view larger · arrows to navigate
Is this room the right room for you?
The most common questions from founders deciding whether to apply.
Do I need to be a full-time founder to apply?
No — you do not need to be working on your company full-time to apply. We accept founders who are full-time on their company, and operators, clinicians, or scientists who are still in a senior seat and seriously preparing the next chapter. We do not accept observers or service providers looking for clients.
What stage of company is this for?
Pre-seed through Series A in women's health, life sciences, or adjacent health innovation. If you have a deck, a clinical thesis, or a working prototype, you are in range. We mix stages on purpose — the room learns faster that way.
I'm not based in NYC. Should I still apply?
Yes, if you can be in NYC for the day. About a third of each cohort travels in. The day is built around being in one room together; we do not offer a remote option.
Is this only for women building women's health products?
The cohort is women founders. The companies we accept are concentrated in women's health, but we also accept broader health innovation — cardiometabolic, mental health, longevity, care delivery — where the founder is a woman building in NYC's life-sciences ecosystem.
What does it cost?
The full day is $595, with a 30% discount for members of the First Check Collective. That covers the working sessions, movement hour, lunch, the podcast roundtable, warm intros made live in the closing session, and the take-home goodie bag. Add-ons (podcast & newsletter feature, brand asset pack, 30-day action plan, and 1:1 strategy meetings with the host) are $50 each. Accepted founders cover their own travel.
When do I need to apply?
Early bird closes September 1, 2026 — apply before then and choose any two $50 add-ons free. Admissions are reviewed on a rolling basis through Fall 2026.
Do accepted founders really get a 1:1 mentor?
Yes. Every accepted founder is paired with a health executive or investor matched to their stage and sector. Commitment is flexible — one to six months — with monthly office hours built in. This is included with acceptance, not an add-on.
Will what I share stay in the room?
Yes. The working sessions are off the record. The only recorded moment is the closing 45-minute roundtable for the FirstCheck podcast, and you see the topics in advance.
Join the waitlist for the next room.
Every cohort keeps the six-seat format and runs across Summer 2026. Add your name and we'll reach out first when the next themed day opens — waitlisted founders are reviewed ahead of general applications.