Why It Took 6 Years to Build This Sweat Sensor

In This Episode

• How Stefan's experience of dehydration led him to build FLOWBIO
• How the sensor measures sodium and fluid loss during exercise
• Why difficult hardware development can become a competitive advantage
• The shift from direct-to-consumer sales to retail partners
• Building authentic relationships with athletes and a focused product strategy
• The difference between creating value and capturing it

Timestamps

• 0:00 Cold open
• 0:49 Meet Stefan van der Fluit
• 1:32 How dehydration became the problem
• 5:20 How the FLOWBIO sensor works
• 8:04 Who the product is built for
• 9:45 Why hardware is so hard, and defensible
• 15:19 The shift from DTC to retail
• 18:03 Educating the people on the shop floor
• 21:20 Why most brand communities feel fake
• 23:40 Building authentic relationships with elite athletes
• 25:35 “Spot the Bulge” at the Tour de France
• 26:48 Your only competition is yourself
• 28:35 More conversations create more luck
• 32:08 Useful products and good stories
• 33:27 Humility and leadership
• 34:56 Collaborating with Garmin-scale giants
• 36:31 Go an inch wide and a mile deep
• 38:00 Creating value versus capturing it
• 39:29 What comes next for FLOWBIO
• 40:17 Wrap-up

Links

• FLOWBIO
• Stefan on LinkedIn
• Will on LinkedIn
• Listen on Spotify
• Listen on Apple Podcasts

Disclosure

Will Read is an investor in FLOWBIO.