Launch Pad

Scrubs that fit well. Scrubs that flatter your body. Scrubs with antimicrobial fabric, to stop bacteria and infections from spreading. The medical apparel industry is a $10 billion industry in the US alone—so where have scrubs like these been?

That’s what Trina Spear asked herself, and her answer was FIGS, which she calls the “highest quality medical apparel in the world.” FIGS has the potential to turn the medical apparel industry upside down. As she explains: “it’s a commoditized industry that we are de-commoditizing. It’s an unbranded industry that we are branding.”

Listen to Karl and Trina talk about why FIGS is a B-Corp that gives away a set of scrubs to a healthcare provider in need for every set they sell. And just how many meetings it took for Trina to raise their first $2 million in funding. (Spoiler: about 100. Which Karl points out is totally normal, for you entrepreneurs out there who are feeling discouraged about heading out to meeting #43.)

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Meat grown directly from animal cells. It sounds like science fiction, but like so much else in this age of marvels, this hopeful fiction is turning into actual science, at Memphis Meats.

A former cardiologist, founder Uma Valeti was part of a study that was trying to inject cells into patients’ hearts to regrow heart muscle, and he took that idea of growing muscle cells… and ran with it. Meat grown in a laboratory, rather than raised as livestock, addresses the environmental, ethical, and health issues that plague our current means of getting meat on the table. As Uma explains: “We're detaching slaughter from meat production.”

This is a true moon shot, a potential disruptor of global proportions. According to Uma, 90% of the world’s population eats meat, and in order to supply that meat, 57 billion land animals are slaughtered every year. What if that all just—stopped? Listen to Uma and Karl dig in to the scientific, cultural, and business challenges that Memphis Meats faces. And keep an eye out: Uma’s goal is to get Memphis Meats products on the market, in grocery stores and restaurants, within five years. Will you try it?

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What's a guy supposed to do when he sells his first startup to Google for over $80 million, just 2 years after graduation? Found another company, Flatiron Health (which has so far raised $228 million from, among others, Google Ventures) that is working to cure cancer using big data.

This is the life story, so far, of Nat Turner W'08. Listen to hear him talk with Karl Ulrich about choosing your funding strategically ("taking investment is much more than just capital"), the benefits of being an industry outsider ("I think, honestly, it's an advantage that we did not come from the industry"), rising healthcare costs ("maybe this crisis, maybe this opportunity will actually give rise to some innovative thinking and some better solutions. We can all be hopeful for that."), and more.

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Karl is terrifically excited about Blake Scholl's startup, Boom, which is building a new generation of supersonic airplaines that are significantly more efficient and affordable than Concord ever was.

Boom promises New York to London in just over three hours, instead of the seven hours the trip takes now--but for the same price you pay now for a business class ticket. Listen to hear Blake explain how he's making this possible.

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Neel Premkumar built his startups "more like a software company, less like a packaged goods company." And that's the secret to his success--instead of years spent perfecting a product, he got an MVP in the hands of consumers, and then tweaked until he got it right.

Listen to Neel and Karl talk about how Stur kept Neel's wife hydrated during her pregnancy--and how Forto keeps them both caffeinated now that the twins are born. As well as how to bring packaged foods to market, a must-listen for any aspiring food entrepreneur.

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