Lauren Berson – The Executive-Turned-Founder Redefining Fertility Care

Lauren Berson Sugarman has established a career as a strategic leader, innovator and individual with an uncompromising desire to assist others. She is today remembered as the founder and the CEO of Conceive, a digital health platform that is meant to revolutionize fertility care by providing community-based, evidence-based education and custom coaching. However, the origins of Conceive- and the way Lauren became an entrepreneur- lie in an extremely personal story.

From Executive Leader to Entrepreneur

Prior to the founding of Conceive, Lauren Berson worked in some of the most powerful firms across the globe and has over 20 years of experience. She has an extensive career in leadership in the fields of technology, finance, venture capital, and health and wellness.

She served as:

• VP, Global Head of Strategy and M&A at WW (formerly Weight Watchers)
• Senior Partner at Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), one of the most prominent venture capital firms, where she had a front-row seat to the rise of biotech and digital health
• Strategic Product Partnerships Lead at Google, where she helped develop and scale new product ecosystems
• Executive at Citi, contributing to initiatives across finance and technology

These roles sharpened her expertise in building brands, scaling communities, and leading high-impact teams. But Lauren’s shift from executive to entrepreneur wasn’t just a career move—it was a personal mission.

A Personal Journey Through Fertility Challenges

The idea behind Conceive was into existence way earlier than Lauren chose to create a company. It began in doctors offices, at early blood draws, when a pregnancy test was negative, and when one was terribly unsure of something.

Lauren Berson was three years of cognitive and physical turmoil of infertility issues the experience she had consisted of IUI, Clomid, more than one reproductive endocrinologist, missed diagnosis, OPK, desperate internet searches, hysteroscopy, and several rounds of IVF.

It was the most tragic experience when a pregnancy was lost in a miscarriage of the heart. However, she says the worst thing about the journey was not the procedures or the pain. It was the solitude.

Much of this I had to go through myself, she remembers. The seclusion was disheartening, despite the fact that she was taking a journey that a lot of other people secretly follow.

Later on in her life, when she gave birth to her daughter, Lauren Berson understood how her life would have been different, how her life would have been, had she had support, clear guidance, and people who understood her.

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The Birth of Conceive

Conceive was built as the resource Lauren Berson wished existed during her own fertility journey. The platform provides:

• Personalized fertility guidance
• Evidence-based educational tools
• A supportive community of peers and experts
• Coaching designed to improve outcomes and emotional well-being

Her years of expertise in product development, digital health, and community-building directly shaped the platform. At Weight Watchers, Lauren learned how powerful digital communities can be in improving health outcomes. At a16z, she saw the transformative potential of biotech and health tech innovation.

Everything—professionally and personally—seemed to point her toward creating Conceive.

Addressing an Industry in Need of Change

Lauren’s mission extends beyond individual fertility journeys. She is equally driven to solve systemic problems she witnessed firsthand:

• Clinician burnout
• Operational inefficiencies in reproductive healthcare
• Lack of personalized, scalable fertility support

Conceive aims to fill gaps left by traditional care, ensuring individuals and couples receive holistic, emotionally supportive guidance at every step.

By combining technology, empathy, and community, Lauren Berson hopes to change not only outcomes, but experiences—making fertility care clearer, kinder, and more connected.

Leadership and Impact

In addition to running Conceive, Lauren Berson is:

• An active angel investor and advisor, supporting companies across tech and health
• A board member at JCCA, a New York–based child welfare agency dedicated to supporting children and families

Her career reflects both her entrepreneurial spirit and her commitment to meaningful social impact.

A Mission Rooted in Purpose

Conceive is not just a company to Lauren Berson. It is the achievement of individual suffering into action. What her experience teaches us is that the most vulnerable people can be the most innovative, and that no solutions can solve a problem as well as those who have experienced it themselves.

Laurn Berson is a pioneering founder of today who is transforming fertility care- an act of empathy, community, and the idea that nobody should go their own way.