Afton Vechery (’11)
Major/Minor: Business and Enterprise Management/Neuroscience and Entrepreneurship
Company: Modern Fertility
Afton Vechery is the co-founder and CEO of Modern Fertility, a women’s health company making fertility information more accessible for the modern woman when she really needs it–earlier in life. Modern Fertility gives women access to the same laboratory tests that top fertility clinics offer and provides them with tools to track fertility over time. This is the fourth health company that Afton has had a hand in building. She has also worked in healthcare private equity and most recently led the consumer tools division at 23andMe.
On becoming a successful entrepreneur:
No matter who you are, when you start out on a new venture—you’re going to have very few definitive answers (or none at all!) The best thing you can do is know what you don’t know and practice your framework for getting to the right answers. Often for me, that involves finding the right people with the right expertise to provide input.
On success after college:
I feel incredibly grateful that Wake Forest alum Adam Dolder took a chance and hired me at Great Point Partners, a healthcare Private Equity fund in Greenwich, CT. I was able to learn the ins and outs of the business world in a fast paced, high stakes environment with very smart mentors. Finding a role where you can learn the basics (financial modeling, presentations, etc.), allows you think strategically about what makes organizations valuable, and has growth potential––that’s the ultimate first professional experience.
How to get the most out of Wake Forest University and the Center for Entrepreneurship:
- Take a leadership role in an on-campus group (I loved e-society!)
- Start a company! Take advantage of all of the science that is downtown- there are some great opportunities!
What are some of your favorite “tools” that you consistently use as an entrepreneur and why?
- I like the app Captio- I use my email as my inbox and whenever I think of something to do, I make a quick note in Captio and it reminds me to do it.
- I spend a lot of time in Gmail/ Google Docs & Slack.