Podcasts Technology Lenny's Podcast: Product | Growth | Career How to build a cult-like brand | Laura Modi (Bobbie)

How to build a cult-like brand | Laura Modi (Bobbie)

Published: April 13, 2023, 12:01 p.m.

Brought to you by Vanta\u2014Automate compliance. Simplify security | LMNT\u2014Zero-sugar hydration | AssemblyAI\u2014Production-ready AI models to transcribe and understand speech

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Laura Modi is the CEO and co-founder of Bobbie, the first woman-owned, organic infant formula in the U.S. Previously, Laura spent over five years at Airbnb, where she served as Director of Hospitality. Before that, she spent over four years at Google in finance and operations. In today\u2019s podcast, we discuss:

\u2022 Biggest lessons from five years at Airbnb

\u2022 Lessons about building great culture

\u2022 The power of naivete

\u2022 From growth to \u201cslowth\u201d: Why Bobbie prioritized existing customers over growth during the height of the formula shortage

\u2022 The importance of momentum above all else

\u2022 Finding work-life balance with the right infrastructure, support, and frameworks

\u2022 The importance of brand, and how to build a brand

\u2022 What it takes to win in DTC

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Find the full transcript at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/from-growth-to-slowth-the-making

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Where to find Laura Modi:

\u2022 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/laurahughes6/

\u2022 Email: Laura@hibobbie.com

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Where to find Lenny:

\u2022 Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com

\u2022 Twitter: https://twitter.com/lennysan

\u2022 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/

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Note: Lenny is a small angel investor in Bobbie.

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In this episode, we cover:

(00:00) Laura\u2019s background

(04:20) What Laura worked on at Airbnb

(06:22) The director of hospitality\xa0role

(07:08) How supporting hosts led to growth at Airbnb

(08:28) Lessons from Airbnb around culture and storytelling that impact how Laura runs Bobbie

(09:44) How Laura builds a strong culture at Bobbie\xa0

(11:45) The risk she took in starting her own company

(13:41) Advice on taking risks

(15:10) What is Bobbie

(17:15) The scale of Bobbie

(17:55) The infant formula shortage crisis\xa0

(19:49) How the growth team pivoted to being the \u201cslowth\u201d team

(23:23) Lessons from the crisis

(25:16) Building a brand

(31:12) Branding internally

(33:58) The time the FDA shut Bobbie down over labeling

(36:45) How Laura balances her busy mom life with being a founder

(40:17) The power of naivete\xa0

(44:03) Why Laura hires optimistic doers

(45:56) Growing a DTC company

(47:14) How Bobbie leverages content, community, and commerce

(49:42) Bobbie\u2019s pie chart of growth

(50:43) Emily Oster\u2019s influence\xa0

(52:40) The importance of momentum and how to create it

(54:15) Lightning round

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Referenced:

\u2022 Bobbie: https://www.hibobbie.com/

\u2022 Davos: https://www.weforum.org/events/world-economic-forum-annual-meeting-2023

\u2022 MrBeast\u2019s YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCX6OQ3DkcsbYNE6H8uQQuVA

\u2022 Josh Miller on Lenny\u2019s Podcast: https://www.lennyspodcast.com/competing-with-giants-an-inside-look-at-how-the-browser-company-builds-product-josh-miller-ceo/

\u2022 Milk Drunk podcast: https://milk-drunk.com/

\u2022 Emily Oster on Twitter: https://twitter.com/ProfEmilyOster

\u2022 Cribsheet: https://www.amazon.com/Cribsheet/dp/1788164490

\u2022 Great by Choice: https://www.amazon.com/Great-Choice-Uncertainty-Thrive-Despite/dp/1847940889

\u2022 Metabolical: The Lure and the Lies of Processed Food, Nutrition, and Modern Medicine: https://www.amazon.com/Metabolical-Processed-Nutrition-Modern-Medicine/dp/0063027712/

\u2022 Purple Cow: Transform Your Business by Being Remarkable: https://www.amazon.com/Purple-Cow-Transform-Business-Remarkable/dp/014101640X

\u2022 Expecting Better: https://www.amazon.com/Expecting-Better-Conventional-Pregnancy-Wrong/dp/0143125702

\u2022 Outlive: The Science and Art of Longevity: https://www.amazon.com/Outlive-Longevity-Peter-Attia-MD/dp/0593236599

\u2022 Bad Sisters on AppleTV+: https://tv.apple.com/us/show/bad-sisters

\u2022 NoseFrida the Snotsucker: https://frida.com/products/nosefrida

\u2022 Careers at Bobbie: https://www.hibobbie.com/pages/careers

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Production and marketing by https://penname.co/. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email podcast@lennyrachitsky.com.



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