Episode 11: Sebastian Wahl & Carl-Philipp von Polheim - The story of mybacs and how to start a direct-to-consumer company

Sebastian Wahl and Carl-Philipp von Polheim are the founders of mybacs (https://mybacs.com/).
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 (https://ethz.ch/en/studies/prospective-masters-degree-students/masters-degree-programmes/masters-degree-programmes-natural-sciences-and-mathematics/master-pharmaceutical-sciences.html). Carl-Philipp studied business administration and holds a Master of Science in Management from ESCP Europe (https://www.escpeurope.eu/).
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.
Please follow me on Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/leaptakerspodcast/), Twitter (https://twitter.com/TheRemoKyburz), and my Website (http://www.leaptakers.com/), where I post new episodes, share cool stuff & interesting articles I found, and blog occasionally! Sign-up for the mailing list to stay in the loop (https://www.leaptakers.com/subscribe)!
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?
If you're enjoying the podcast, the best way to support the show is by leaving a review on Apple Podcast (https://podcasts.apple.com/ch/podcast/the-leap-takers-podcast/id1468975811?l=en) or in your favorite podcast app.
Special Guests: Carl-Philipp von Polheim and Sebastian Wahl.

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.

Please follow me on Instagram, Twitter, and my Website, where I post new episodes, share cool stuff & interesting articles I found, and blog occasionally! Sign-up for the mailing list to stay in the loop!

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?

If you're enjoying the podcast, the best way to support the show is by leaving a review on Apple Podcast or in your favorite podcast app.

Special Guests: Carl-Philipp von Polheim and Sebastian Wahl.

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