Summary
Overview
Laura Modi built Bobby, an infant formula startup challenging industry giants Abbott (Similac) and Mead Johnson (Enfamil). After struggling with breastfeeding and finding outdated U.S. formulas, she left Airbnb in 2018 while pregnant with her second child to create a European-style formula. The journey included an FDA recall, manufacturing challenges, navigating the 2022 formula shortage, and ultimately acquiring her own production facility. Despite the heavily regulated market dominated by two companies controlling 80% of sales, Bobby has captured nearly 4% market share with over $100 million in revenue.
The Personal Struggle That Sparked an Idea
Laura Modi's journey began with a deeply personal crisis when she couldn't exclusively breastfeed her first child in 2016. Walking through a pharmacy at 11pm with a fever from a breast infection, she experienced overwhelming shame buying formula—a feeling compounded by society's "breast is best" messaging. As a researcher by nature, she dove into understanding infant formula ingredients and was shocked to discover that U.S. nutritional standards hadn't been updated since the 1980s, while Europe updated theirs every 4-5 years. This gap between European and American standards, combined with the thriving black market for European formula, convinced her there was an opportunity to create something better.
- Laura struggled with breastfeeding after developing an infection five days postpartum, leading to a shame-filled late-night pharmacy visit
- She discovered U.S. infant formula nutritional standards hadn't been updated since the 1980s, while Europe updated every 4-5 years
- Key nutritional differences included DHA levels (supporting brain health) being mandatory and higher in Europe
- A thriving black market existed where parents were importing European formula in suitcases
" I just felt like I had failed her, I had failed myself. And I was disappointed. I was disappointed it in at all. So I did the walk of shame. I'll never forget buying that first can. And all I did was hoped that they put it into a bag that wasn't see-through. "
" Most people thought I was building something as a passion project for my own baby, and I found I was dismissed. "
From Tech Career to Entrepreneurial Leap
Laura's path to entrepreneurship was shaped by her experience at Google and Airbnb, where she learned from some of the best in Silicon Valley. After moving from Ireland to California for a Google job in the mid-2000s, she spent nearly five years there before joining Airbnb in 2011 when it was still a small startup. The mindset shift from Ireland—where people would tell you to "get away" if you said you wanted to be an astronaut—to California's "I have a friend who can help you get there" culture profoundly influenced her belief that anything was possible. When she discovered she was pregnant with her second child in early 2018, she made the bold decision to leave Airbnb and self-fund Bobby's development with savings and consulting work.
- Laura joined Google in California in the mid-2000s, experiencing the cultural shift from Irish skepticism to Silicon Valley optimism
- She became an early Airbnb employee in 2011, watching the company disrupt the hospitality industry
- Upon learning she was pregnant with her second child, Laura decided to leave Airbnb full-time to build Bobby
- She initially budgeted $50,000 of her own savings but ultimately spent close to $200,000 before raising outside capital
" You know, back home in Ireland, you could tell someone like, oh, I want to be an astronaut. And they would say, ah, would you get away from me? You're not going to space. You tell someone over in San Francisco, over on the West Coast, they'll say, I have a friend. I have a book. Let me give you the book. I can get you there. "
" I peed on the stick and I found out I was pregnant for the second time, and that feeling of, okay, I'm not having this kid until there's a better formula in the market. "
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