Wei is the founder and CEO of Clipboard Health (Y Combinator W2017). Clipboard matches healthcare facilities with nurses nearby, and is live in over a dozen cities. Before founding Clipboard Health, Wei was one of the first 10 employees at Sendwave, a remittance startup for the African diaspora, and was responsible for opening the UK and European corridor. Sendwave was recently acquired for $500M. She’s worked in a variety of roles at startups, ranging from head of product to COO, after working as an investment banking Associate at Moelis & Company. She got her career started as a lawyer, where she worked at a top-5 law firm (Davis Polk & Wardwell). She graduated from Yale College & Yale Law School.

What inspired you/your team to create this company?
I’ve always wanted to help move people up a socioeconomic ladder, and initially started this company as a way to refinance student loans, with a focus on nurses and other healthcare workers. But in the course of talking to them, I realized that no one really wanted the financial solution so much as they wanted a way to find a better job with more flexible schedules (especially many nurses who are single moms), faster pay and more convenient locations. At the same time, I knew that healthcare facilities were always complaining about having a shortage of nurses and other healthcare workers, so I decided to create a solution that would help workers find jobs when and where they want to, and to enable the healthcare facilities to get the nurses they need in order to provide quality patient care.

What distinguishes your company and product in the market?
We’re focused on two underserved communities: lower-educated nurses and long-term care facilities, which has historically been underrepresented in the healthcare staffing world. Most staffing agencies today serve hospitals, work with higher educated nurses (registered nurses, nurse practitioners) because it’s more lucrative. As a result, the long-term care facilities such as nursing homes, rehab centers, and hospice are left without a great staffing solution. Similarly, the nurses with lower levels of education (such as certified nursing assistants) don’t get as much focus, even though many of them are single moms and really desperately need a more flexible work schedule and faster pay.”