Reflections From a Founder Whose Startup Didn’t “Make It” - But Still Mattered
By Stephanie Irving - Founder of Ostique
Every day, around 200,000 people in the UK wake up with a stoma, an opening in their abdomen that diverts bowel waste following surgery for cancer, Crohn's Disease or other conditions. For decades, the products designed to help them have been functional at best, stigmatising at worst. Ostique set out to change that.
Founded in 2017 by Stephanie Monty, the London-based MedTech startup developed a new generation of ostomy products, designed with the aesthetics of lingerie and body art, and the engineering rigour of a medical device. They earned NHS Drug Tariff listing, EU regulatory approval, and built Ostique Connect, a peer support app used by thousands of ostomates worldwide. Earlier this year, Ostique closed. Below, Stephanie reflects on what eight years of building taught her.
"Perfection is an expensive hobby"
For When I shared the news that Ostique had closed its doors, I expected a few kind messages, maybe a couple of “sorry to hear this” DMs and then for the world to move on. What I didn’t expect was to be asked to write a reflective piece about the journey, especially for a newsletter read by founders and investors who know, better than anyone, how precarious the world of impact-driven startups can be.
But perhaps that’s exactly why it makes sense. Because building something that matters, and watching it come to an end, forces you to gather the lessons you didn’t know you were learning while everything was on fire.
When we started Ostique eight years ago, we were armed with a problem worth solving, stubborn optimism and a belief that products serving overlooked communities could and should be innovative and empowering. We designed, developed and manufactured multiple product lines, gained UK and European regulatory approvals, achieved NHS Drug Tariff listing and rolled out our products nationally. We built an app, Ostique Connect, that supported thousands of ostomates globally with engagement statistics that blew most health-based community apps out of the water. We won multiple awards and raised investment from angels, family offices and VCs who believed in our mission.
These are not small achievements for a company of our size. And yet, we still closed.
Timing and macro forces have absolutely no regard for your roadmap
In startup culture, we love a success story. We love the chart that goes up and to the right, the triumphant funding announcement, the “founder as hero” narrative. But many of the most important lessons come from the chapters that don’t end the way we hoped.
One of my biggest reflections is that building for impact can be both a privilege and a trap. When you care deeply about the people you’re building for, you want every detail to be perfect. You want the product to be not just “good enough” but genuinely life changing. And while that intention is noble, perfection is an expensive hobby. If I could go back, I’d choose momentum over perfection far more often.
I’d also question advice more boldly. Founders often drown in guidance. Some of it brilliant, some of it… less so. The challenge is that you only discover which is which in hindsight. I’ve learned that your instincts matter more than you think, especially when navigating sectors as complex as healthtech.
Another truth I learnt is that timing and macro forces have absolutely no regard for your well crafted roadmap. We survived COVID, supply chain crises, wars and an economic climate that seemed designed to test the resilience of every startup simultaneously. We adapted, reimagined, pushed and reinvented until, eventually, the maths simply stopped mathing.
What I'm choosing to carry forward
The products we created genuinely changed people’s lives.
The community we built made thousands of people feel seen, heard and empowered.
And the journey - messy, imperfect, exhilarating, exhausting - was shared with incredible people, including two of my closest friends. Not many founders can say they built a company with their best mates and came out the other side still speaking to each other! I consider that one of our major accomplishments.
There’s also something reassuring in knowing that our work will continue in some form. Ostique Connect has been acquired and will live on, connecting people who need connection most.
Impact doesn't disappear just because a company does
Since closing Ostique, I’ve taken some time away after the birth of my second son. Being a full time mum for a little while has reminded me that there are many ways to build something meaningful. But it has also confirmed that my passion for healthtech, and for designing products that solve real, human problems, is as strong as ever.
For any founder reading this, you are not your startup’s outcome. You are the person who dared to build, dared to care and dared to try knowing it might not work. That, in itself, is pretty awesome.
And for investors (especially the ones like Daring Capital who back founders with heart), thank you. Impact is not created in isolation, and your belief matters more than you realise.
Ostique didn’t end the way we hoped. But it mattered. And I’d build it again. Perhaps a little faster, a little wiser and with fewer perfectionist tendencies - but with the same conviction that innovation and empathy belong together.
Here’s to whatever comes next.