I read 700+ Reddit posts about women going through perimenopause. Here’s what I learned building a startup around it.
I’m building Navparv, a women’s wellbeing brand focused on helping women navigate the changes that happen around perimenopause and menopause.
When I started researching the space, I expected to find women asking mostly about symptoms.
Instead, I kept seeing something else:
“Is this normal?”
“Why is this happening to me?”
“Why did nobody tell me?”
I went through 700+ Reddit posts and comments from women sharing their experiences.
A few patterns kept coming up:
- Women often didn’t realise perimenopause could start while they were still getting their periods.
- Brain fog and exhaustion were some of the most unsettling experiences.
- Sleep problems were often treated as an isolated issue.
- Anxiety, irritability and changes in relationships were rarely connected back to hormonal changes.
- And perhaps most importantly, many women simply didn’t know who to talk to.
That last point has changed how we’re building Navparv.
We initially thought we were building a product.
We realised we’re actually trying to build a place where women can first understand what’s happening to them — without feeling like something is wrong with them.
We’re starting with community, conversations and expert-backed guidance before asking women to buy anything.
I’d love to hear from other women building businesses:
What’s something your customer research completely changed about the business you thought you were going to build?