IM8 CEO on building the 'world's fastest-growing supplements brand' backed by David Beckham

Description

Danny Yeung's entrepreneurial path has been anything but linear. He's the co-founder and CEO of Prenetics, Hong Kong's first unicorn to list on the Nasdaq, and the leader of IM8, which bills itself as the world's fastest-growing supplements brand. Prenetics, a breakout name in consumer health, is the parent company of IM8, which has already attracted global stars like co-founder David Beckham and ambassador Aryna Sabalenka, who are also investors. But the man behind all of that is Danny, a serial founder who first got on the road to entrepreneurship by bringing iconic Hong Kong dessert chain Hui Lau Shan to the US — and has since worked on everything, from venture capital to Covid and DNA testing to health supplements to a new, bold bet on bitcoin.  In this conversation, we get into:  | 00:00:00 — Introduction | 00:01:47 — Danny's upbringing and how it shaped his ambitions early on | 00:06:47 — The entrepreneurial itch - Cold-calling Hui Lau Shan to enter the US | 00:08:48 — Moving to Hong Kong and building a business that was later sold to Groupon | 00:12:52 — Venturing into genetics testing with Prenetics | 00:17:45 — Covid testing + rapid scaling during the pandemic: 'We went from $10M to $250M in revenue' | 00:22:05 — Peaks and valleys - listing on the Nasdaq as Hong Kong's first unicorn and mass layoffs post-Covid | 00:24:45 — A $200M joint venture focused on cancer detection — and Tencent collaboration | 00:28:08 — Company performance and response to pressure on market cap | 00:31:15 — Meeting David Beckham for dinner and hatching the idea for IM8 | 00:34:11 — IM8's path as one of the fastest-growing supplement brands on track to a $100M ARR | 00:37:00 — Growth drivers and early success | 00:40:29 — Teaming up with tennis No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka | 00:42:02 — How to land big-name ambassadors for your business | 00:42:21 — Betting on crypto: The company's bitcoin treasury strategy | 00:46:53 — 'Future of health and wealth' | 00:52:40 — Company roadmap | 00:55:24 — Advice to his younger self | 00:56:00 — 'My la