Cindy Eckert (formerly Whitehead) (@cindypinkceo) is an entrepreneur with $1.5B in exits who currently serves as the founder and CEO of The Pink Ceiling, an investment firm and consulting enterprise nicknamed the Pinkubator with a mission to invest in, launch, and build other women-led or -focused businesses. She believes that access to good advice alone is not enough to change the ratio of men to women in business, and that is why she personally invested more than $15M dollars in 2017 alone to support the development of 9 portfolio companies. Cindy is the founder of Sprout Pharmaceuticals, home of Addyi, the first and only FDA-approved treatment for low sexual desire disorder in women, which was sold for $1B and then reacquired in a crazy story with incredible terms that we will discuss in this conversation. Please enjoy this wide-ranging conversation with Cindy Eckert (formerly Whitehead)! Follow Cindy Eckert (formerly Whitehead) on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cindypinkceo SUBSCRIBE: http://bit.ly/1dSzTkW About Tim Ferriss: Tim Ferriss is one of Fast Company’s “Most Innovative Business People” and an early-stage tech investor/advisor in Uber, Facebook, Twitter, Shopify, Duolingo, Alibaba, and 50+ other companies. He is also the author of five #1 New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestsellers: The 4-Hour Workweek, The 4-Hour Body, The 4-Hour Chef, Tools of Titans and Tribe of Mentors. Connect with Tim Ferriss: The Tim Ferriss PODCAST: https://bit.ly/2rYjUBr The Tim Ferriss BLOG: http://bit.ly/17jDHw3 Like Tim Ferriss on FACEBOOK: http://on.fb.me/1avYUxq Follow Tim Ferriss on TWITTER: http://bit.ly/17d94TE Follow Tim Ferriss on INSTAGRAM: http://bit.ly/2IfH37J This podcast is brought to you by Peloton, an indoor cycling bike that brings live studio classes right to your home. No worrying about fitting classes into your busy schedule or making it to a studio with a crazy commute. New classes are added every day, and you can live stream studio classes taught by the world’s best instructors or find your favorite class on demand. Peloton is offering listeners to this show a special offer. Visit onepeloton.com and enter the code TIM at checkout to receive $100 off accessories with your Peloton bike purchase. This is a great way to get in your workouts, or an incredible gift. Again, that’s onepeloton.com and enter the code TIM. 00:00 Intro Cindy's “do or die” story 00:15 Cindy’s favorite business 02:26 Instilling exceptional pride in your workforce 03:29 Cindy’s 3-minute commercial 05:17 How Cindy interviews 07:59 Cindy’s business professor drove her to excel 09:31 Starting a pharmaceutical company without a scientific background 10:50 The Sexual Medicine Society 13:32 How Slate developed the first long-acting testosterone and saved consumers money 14:14 How to find cultural fit 17:31 6 criteria for a potential hire 18:38 Duck Balls? 21:23 Cindy gives all employees irreverent nicknames. Why? 23:27 On being irreverent in sensitive times 27:12 What is Cindy’s nickname? 30:27 How Cindy maintained sales morale 31:21 Sales: from first contact to relationship-building 32:18 Zappos and other influential businesses 34:45 Professor Cindy's required reading 35:29 On getting comfortable with discomfort 36:35 Fighting the FDA with her second company, Sprout 38:22 Hypoactive Sexual Desire Disorder and how Addyi treats it 39:39 How similar was Addyi’s genesis story to Viagra’s? 42:39 How did Cindy’s company rescue Addyi? 43:05 Royalties on pharmaceuticals 47:46 An emotional push through the FDA approval process 49:29 When "protecting women" does the opposite 52:15 Exit advice from Cindy 54:40 What is a best efforts clause? 56:38 The one who cares the least wins. 1:00:52 Cindy celebrated before she won. 1:02:35 On selling a company you care about: “Be a little bit reluctant to give it up.” 1:06:57 Let the opposition negotiate against themselves. 1:11:22 "Buying" Sprout back for $0 after selling it for $1B 1:13:53 What’s next for Addyi? 1:19:53 Rules Cindy routinely breaks as best practices 1:20:31 What is The Pinkubator? 1:22:26 Learnings from taking money from the wrong people 1:23:48 How did Cindy later vet investors? 1:27:06 What is The Pink Ceiling? 1:30:09 “Money is power.” 1:33:31 Rules we're better off breaking 1:36:30 What class would Cindy choose to teach? 1:38:35 Earn your self-confidence. 1:40:22 On being feminine in the world of business 1:43:12 How Amanda Palmer co-opted ammunition from a hater 1:45:38 Cindy's most re-read book 1:47:03 The last time Cindy cried tears of joy 1:47:58 Something unusual Cindy loves 1:49:43 If Cindy gave a TED Talk 1:51:25 What Cindy does when she’s feeling overwhelmed or unfocused 1:53:12 Cindy’s billboard 1:54:58 A failure that led to a success 1:55:39 Getting in contact and parting thoughts 1:56:54