Episode 11

Sebastian Wahl & Carl-Philipp von Polheim - The story of mybacs and how to start a direct-to-consumer company

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December 31st, 2019

35 mins 24 secs

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germany switzerland startups reading travel health consumer product entrepreneurship direct-to-consumer

About this Episode

Sebastian Wahl and Carl-Philipp von Polheim are the founders of mybacs.
Mybacs is a direct-to-consumer (D2C), research driven, biotechnology company for gut-health products based in Zug (Switzerland) and Munich (Germany). Their goal is to revolutionize the healthcare market around the human microbiome and thus make a decisive contribution to the health and daily well-being of everyday customers. Mybacs is specialized on the development of innovative and high-dose synbiotic dietary supplements
They have two types of products - a Travel and Daily well-being probiotic product.

Sebastian holds a Master's degree with distinction in Pharmacy from ETH Zurich. Carl-Philipp studied business administration and holds a Master of Science in Management from ESCP Europe.

In this episode we talk about the origin story of mybacs, how to start manufacturing a physical product, the emerging direct-to-consumer industry, tools and resources to start your own D2C company, VC fundraising tips, the benefits of probiotics, their key learnings for other aspiring founders, and more.

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Show notes:
02:54 -- Introduction of Sebastian, Carl-Philipp, and mybacs
04:02 -- Exploring the origin story of mybacs
06:12 -- Previous work experience before founding mybacs
07:23 -- Thoughts and considerations before taking the leap
08:53 -- Awareness of probiotics and the effect of the human microbiome on well-being in Europe vs. US
10:08 -- Geographies that mybacs operates in
10:22 -- How to manufacture a physical product as a startup
11:53 -- Tips for planning your supply chain
12:34 -- Timing from idea to shipping the first product
13:15 -- Thoughts about assembling the right team in the D2C space
14:40 -- How to incentivize experienced people & experts to join your startup?
15:17 -- Raising outside capital and thoughts about raising money from VCs
16:56 -- How to find a great Venture Capital investor
18:37 -- The advantages of the D2C market and business model
21:45 -- How to ship a product?
23:24 -- Helpful resources, tools, and books to start your own company
24:36 -- The future vision of mybacs
27:28 -- Understanding the mybacs travelers product
27:51 -- Favorite knowledge resources
29:32 -- Hobbies to take your mind off the startup life
30:12 -- Key learnings from starting a company. What would you do differently?
31:07 -- Career advice for ambitious future “leap takers”
32:16 -- What does courage mean to you?

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