Editor's note: The following is the latest profile in a series of articles about startup founders from non-technical backgrounds who have launched successful venture-backed companies. Read the previous interviews in the series including with MagicSchool AI founder Adeel Khan here, Trunk Tools founder Sarah Buchner here, Tabs founder Ali Hussain here, Craft founder Ilya Levtov here, GC AI founder Cecilia Ziniti here, Incredible Health co-founder Iman Abuzeid here, and Hilt founder William 'Will' Cielen here. Lilly Chen was 16 and had been repeatedly hospitalized for Graves' disease when her mother suggested they move to China and become monks. Frustrated with the care her daughter was receiving through Medicaid, she wanted to try something different. Chen left high school and spent about two years as a monk, ordained in the United States before spending several months at a monastery in China. She meditated, reread the same books, and gradually felt well enough to consider returning...
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