MATTEO FRANCESCHETTI, CO-FOUNDER & CEO, EIGHT SLEEP - THE TECH OPTIMIZING OUR SLEEP FITNESS
We’re constantly looking for ways to track, goal-set, and optimize our physical fitness. Why don’t we do the same with sleep – something we spend one-third of our life doing and foundational to our health? This question was Matteo Franceschetti's "ah-ha" moment. A former competitive athlete, Matteo has had a lifelong obsession with optimizing recovery and personal performance. Sleep is not just rest, he realized; it's fitness. So, in 2014, he co-founded and became the CEO of Eight Sleep, a sleep technology company whose smart mattresses and mattress covers -- or, “Pods,” as they’re called – utilize medical-grade sensors and AI to regulate mattress temperature and help you track and optimize your sleep fitness. Eight Sleep has been recognized as one of Fast Company's Most Innovative Companies and TIME's Best Inventions. Matteo joins us to explain how the company got there, walking us through his founder journey and Eight Sleep’s early days – from a successful crowdfunding campaign to sourcing manufacturers in China, persistence in applying to Y Combinator (third time’s the charm!), securing investors, signing influencers, and navigating the push/pull dynamics of product-market fit.
LISTEN TO THIS EPISODE TO LEARN:
- The distinct challenges and lessons of starting and growing a hardware business (hint: nail the unit economics and find the right manufacturing partner!)
- Matteo’s “build in public” philosophy – or, why transparency is key to growing your business
- How Eight Sleep’s smart mattress technology monitors crucial biometric data like heart rate, respiratory rate, heart rate variability, and sleep stages
- How medical-grade sensors and AI work to dynamically adjust the temperature of the mattress based on these biometrics throughout the night to regulate an individual’s sleep
- Matteo’s playbook of 1) Find investors who can make a difference, 2) Find manufacturers who are company-aligned, and 3) Work with the right influencers who can make an impact
- How influencer partnerships can help grow your brand (and why partnering with influencers with smaller audiences can sometimes yield big rewards)
- Potential longer-term applications of Eight Sleep’s sleep technology beyond smart mattresses
- Why founders should never give up, move fast, focus on compounding relationships over time, and keep finding ways to buy time
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