Hardware Podcasts

Bobbie: Laura Modi. How a Baby Formula Startup Took Market Share From Two Industry Giants

How I Built This · 17 Aug 2026 · 1h 19m

What this episode covers

Laura Modi, co-founder of Bobbie, explains how she disrupted the duopoly of Abbott and Mead Johnson in the U.S. infant formula market by launching a European-style, grass-fed formula. She details the company's early struggles, including a crippling FDA shutdown that forced a public apology and a pivot to a companion formula, and the subsequent 18-month regulatory course-correction with contract manufacturer Perigot. Modi also discusses the strategic decision to acquire Nature's One to own manufacturing capacity during the 2022 shortage, and how navigating federal oversight in Washington, D.C., became central to the company's growth and policy advocacy.

Most relevant to

companies scaling up

Topics

Mentioned

Companies
Abbott, Mead Johnson, Perigot, Google, Airbnb
Products
Bobbie, Enfamil, Similac, Nature's One
Also
WIC

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