Lily Vittayarukskul, Waterlily's CEO and Co-Founder, was on the path to become an aerospace engineer at an exceptionally young age, a patented inventor, starting college at 14 and interning at NASA by 16. But her life took an unexpected turn when her Aunt, a cornerstone of her first-generation immigrant family, was diagnosed with terminal stage colon cancer.

Post chemotherapy her family was shocked to learn that health insurance doesn't cover long-term care costs, driving their family to provide care from the home, stepping away from work and school to take on the physically demanding tasks of daily caregiving.

This devastating event revealed the profound gaps in the healthcare preparedness of most families, leaving lasting impacts on her own. Determined to ensure a future where no one else would face the same hardships, Lily shifted her focus from aerospace engineering to healthcare innovation.

Graduating from UC Berkeley with a degree in Genetics and Data Science, Lily led product and engineering teams at multiple startups before founding Waterlily, a company dedicated to making healthcare and its costs accessible, understandable, and empowering for all.

During this episode, we discuss:

• What she does at Waterlily
• How she got the idea for her startup
• The expense that goes into long-term care
• The solutions that Waterlily offers
• Why parents shouldn’t be paying for this
• How Lily never wanted to become a founder but what led her away from being an aerospace engineer
• Why she did a lot of things YC teaches you not to do
• What led her to bringing on a co-founder
• Her advice for anyone looking to fundraise

And more. Tune into this episode as we dive into all things long-term care!