How to build a cult-like brand | Laura Modi (Bobbie)
Laura Modi, founder of Bobby, shares insights on building a successful D2C company. She discusses the importance of culture, strategic growth (even slowing down), leveraging naivety for innovation, and the power of manufactured momentum and strong brand building through content and community over paid acquisition.
Deep Dive Analysis
13 Topic Outline
Lessons from Laura Modi's Time at Airbnb
The Genesis and Vision Behind Bobbie Infant Formula
Navigating the 2022 Infant Formula Shortage Crisis
The 'Slowth' Strategy: Prioritizing Existing Customers
Building a Strong Brand and Connecting with Customers
Internal Branding and Storytelling for Motivation
Overcoming Regulatory Challenges with the FDA
Balancing Entrepreneurship with Family Life
The Power of Naivety in Innovation and Hiring
Hiring for Optimistic Doers and Momentum
Effective D2C Growth Strategy: Content, Community, Commerce
The Influence of Emily Oster on Formula Perception
Creating and Maintaining Momentum in a Company
7 Key Concepts
Hospitality as Product
At Airbnb, the 'product' was its hosts, not just the technology. This required a central team dedicated to equipping, recognizing, and holding hosts accountable, leading to growth by prioritizing their needs and building tools for them.
Culture as Currency
Culture is fundamental to everything a company does, from hiring to maintaining energy. Strong storytelling around a vision can motivate employees, making them feel like they are having a large impact beyond just fixing things.
Slowth Team
During the infant formula shortage, Bobbie's growth team pivoted to become the 'slowth' team. Their new focus was to halt new customer acquisition and ensure existing subscribers had reliable access to product, even advising some to cancel subscriptions to manage inventory.
Naivety in Entrepreneurship
An 'ounce of naivety' can be a secret to success, fostering creativity, innovation, and seeing white space opportunities. It allows founders and employees to look at the status quo differently, rather than being constrained by existing industry norms.
Optimistic Doers
These are individuals sought after in hiring who possess curiosity, openness, and the ability to make decisions and move fast without excessive worry about the outcome. They prioritize getting things done and are willing to take on tasks outside strict job descriptions to maintain company momentum.
Content, Community, Commerce
This is Bobbie's D2C growth strategy, where the traditional order is flipped. Instead of leading with commerce, the focus is on building valuable content and fostering a strong community first, with commerce as the eventual outcome, leading to more sustainable growth.
Manufactured Momentum
As a leader, it's crucial to not just maintain but actively create momentum, even if it means setting arbitrary or 'manufactured' deadlines and launch dates. This forces progress and prevents stagnation, especially in early-stage companies.
6 Questions Answered
Laura Modi served as the Director of Hospitality at Airbnb, leading global host community and host operations, focusing on strengthening the host community and improving marketplace quality.
Laura Modi was inspired to create Bobbie after becoming a mother and realizing the lack of modern, science-backed infant formula options, feeling guilt and embarrassment about existing products, and seeing an industry ripe for disruption.
Bobbie made the decision to turn off its website and stop growing the business for six months to ensure they could reliably serve their existing 70,000 subscribers, becoming the only formula company to do so without running out of product for current customers.
Laura manages by building a strong infrastructure and support system, including an executive assistant and nanny, maintaining detailed family calendars, and having weekly meetings with her husband to coordinate schedules and responsibilities.
Bobbie's D2C growth strategy prioritizes 'content, community, and commerce' in that order, focusing on building thought leadership through educational content (like the Milk Drunk blog) and fostering a strong community before driving sales.
Emily Oster's work is crucial because she uses data to bust myths, particularly the idea that 'breast is best,' by stating there are no studies that qualify why breastfeeding is inherently better, providing credible, data-backed support for formula-feeding parents.
12 Actionable Insights
1. Prioritize Customer Commitment Over Growth
During a crisis, prioritize serving existing customers over acquiring new ones, even if it means halting growth. Bobby turned off its site for six months to ensure current subscribers never ran out of product, which built immense trust and brand loyalty.
2. Manufacture Momentum with Deadlines
As a leader, actively create and maintain momentum by setting manufactured deadlines and launch dates. This forces progress and prevents perfectionism from delaying important initiatives, even if the deadlines are arbitrary.
3. Build Brand on Customer Struggles
Develop your brand by deeply understanding and addressing your customers’ top three struggles or “things that keep them up at night.” Focus messaging and positioning on solving these core problems to create a strong, memorable connection.
4. Flip D2C Strategy: Content, Community, Commerce
Shift the traditional D2C focus from commerce-first to content, community, and then commerce. Invest in high-quality, SEO-driven content to establish thought leadership and build a loyal community, reducing reliance on expensive paid marketing.
5. Cultivate Personal Connections at Work
Actively foster personal relationships among team members, not just professional ones, especially in remote environments. Taking time for personal check-ins helps build a “second family” culture, which is imperative for a lasting business.
6. Hire for Naivety & Optimistic Doing
Seek out candidates, especially for senior roles, who possess an “ounce of naivety” about the industry or problem space, coupled with curiosity and an optimistic “doer” mindset. These individuals are often more creative, less constrained by status quo, and focused on execution rather than questioning job lanes.
7. Brand Internal Processes
Apply branding and storytelling to internal workflows and frameworks to keep people motivated and improve recall. Naming mundane tasks or programs (e.g., “Air Dives,” “Secret Shopping Program”) makes them more engaging and memorable.
8. Build a Strong Support Infrastructure
To manage the chaos of a demanding career and personal life, intentionally build a robust support infrastructure, including personal assistants, nannies, and family planning meetings. Proactively create systems and frameworks to organize schedules and responsibilities.
9. Focus on Product’s Value
Avoid discrediting competitors or alternative solutions. Instead, focus your brand’s messaging solely on what your product does, why it exists, and why you believe it is good, allowing customers to make their own informed choices.
10. Leverage Credible External Voices
When challenging established myths or societal norms, bring in credible external voices (e.g., academics, experts) to underscore your message with data and authority. This can be more effective than a company trying to make the same claims directly.
11. Embrace Async Work for Faster Decisions
Shift away from a meeting-heavy culture towards asynchronous work, utilizing tools like Slack for rapid decision-making sprints. This allows teams to make decisions quickly and move forward without the overhead of traditional meetings.
12. Maintain Regular Date Nights
For new parents, prioritize and consistently schedule a weekly date night with your partner, even if it means hiring a sitter early on. This helps maintain the relationship amidst the demands of parenting and career.
7 Key Quotes
I don't believe there's such a thing as taking a big leap without first taking a major risk.
Laura Modi
Bobby is a better for you infant formula without the guilt.
Laura Modi
We are going to run out of product for the babies that are on Bobby today. We have about six days before we get to a place where we won't be able to serve those who've already made a commitment to Bobby. She's like, so we need to turn off our site and stop growing the business.
Laura Modi
No brand should ever be in a position of pointing fingers to something that's better or worse. Our only job... is to talk about what we do and why we exist and why we believe our product is good.
Laura Modi
An ounce of naivety will be your biggest secret to success.
Laura Modi
The secret is momentum and just keeping momentum. And if we try and perfect everything, like you just miss the boat.
Laura Modi
60% of it is your product and the package around the product, which is your brand. 60%, right? So even if you did nothing to market your brand, your product and brand is 60% of it.
Laura Modi
2 Protocols
Building Infrastructure for Work-Life Balance
Laura Modi- Build a strong support system including an executive assistant and nanny.
- Create detailed calendars for personal and professional commitments, including kids' activities and birthday planning.
- Implement additional help in the house as needed.
- Conduct weekly meetings with your partner to review agendas, coordinate responsibilities, and trade off on family duties.
Maintaining Date Night as a Parent
Laura Modi- Hire a sitter you genuinely like and trust.
- Schedule a regular date night (e.g., every Thursday night).
- Lock in the date night and commit to it, regardless of the cost.
- Start as early as the second week or month after the baby's arrival, even if it's just for a quick meal.