From Fermentation to Fundraising: How Startup Founders Are Scaling Smarter

Jordan Tyler: Welcome back to Founders in Focus, where we're taking you behind the scenes with entrepreneurs redefining the future of animal health, agriculture, and food innovation. Today we'll check in with three founding teams: Dr. Daphne Preuss and Francesca Gallucci of Nataur, who are developing cleaner and greener ways to create essential ingredients like taurine—for everything from pet nutrition to shampoo. We'll also hear from Barry McDonough of Hinalea Imaging, whose hyperspectral imaging platform is transforming everything from food safety and quality control to medical diagnostics. Last but not least, you'll hear from Sebastian Doyle, founder of Medipups, who's on a mission to create human grade transparent supplements for dogs.

Mark McAllister: From gut health trends and sustainability to smarter food manufacturing solutions, this episode unpacks how visionary founders are not just reacting to market demand—they're helping shape it. Whether through replacing petroleum-based ingredients with precision fermentation or turning scientific imaging into real-time decision-making tools, these are bold solutions for complex global problems.

Jordan Tyler: We're your hosts, Jordan Tyler—

Mark McAllister: —and Mark McAllister—

Jordan Tyler: —and this is Founders in Focus.

Kicking off today's episode with Barry McDonogh, Chief Executive Officer of Hinalea Imaging. This startup is offering intelligent food inspection solutions as a service through its AI-enabled hyperspectral imaging platform. But through the Plug and Play program, he's learning there are many other markets that could benefit from this technology.

So Barry, we've been checking in periodically and our first official episode goes really deep into the Hinalea Imaging story and the technology behind it. But I'm curious to know, has your vision for the company changed at all based on what you've learned or gained from the Plug and Play accelerator program?

Barry McDonogh: Yeah, so I wouldn't necessarily think my vision for the business has evolved as a result of the Plug and Play engagement. I think the company has massively benefited from the program. We completed an extension of our seed funding round in Q1. We raised about an additional $1.7 million, and actually all of the investors were from angel groups that we were introduced by Plug and Play. We've also got two customers from the Plug and Play program as well, which is great. One of them is a very large corporate, and that looks like that's going to turn into a commercial program as well.

So, benefited massively. But do I think that the vision for the business has evolved through the engagement? I think less so. And maybe that's because Hinalea was, while it is a startup, it was a more mature business because of its time within TruTag Technologies. So, I think it's probably a more stable vision.

What I do think, and just over the last few months, we have an intelligent imaging platform, and Hinalea as a whole is focused on bringing that into the agri-food space, our brand. But outside of that, we have partners who are taking our intelligent imaging platform into applications that are non-food, and it has become apparent over the last few months that there are some incredibly lucrative applications that we initially, you know, didn't foresee for the platform. And, you know, some of them are very exciting and would have very interesting impact.

Jordan Tyler: Super exciting. Is there any more you can share about that application? I'm super curious.

Barry McDonogh: So, one particular one is in surgical imaging. That tool would enable a surgeon in real time to be able to identify oxygenated tissue versus deoxygenated tissue to look at the tissue boundaries on maybe a cancerous tissue or identify nerves versus fatty tissue, et cetera. So, it's a really interesting application.

We learned about, there's a UK company going after it and we feel like we've got some very applicable hardware that could be used. Now, we are not a company that specializes in medical imaging, and this is something that we're going to look to build a partnership with and then let that partner take our platform to market, but it could be a very lucrative application for our technology.

Jordan Tyler: Very cool.

Mark McAllister: From the very first conversation I had with you, your commercialization strategy was very clear and you were very specific in how you presented that. Would you recommend that commercialization strategy to really any small hardware focused company? And the reason I ask that is you obviously have very high conviction with this strategy. So maybe extrapolate out a little broader, you know, for a broader set of founders who are just young and hungry and would love to kind of build a system end-to-end and then go out and close large contracts and maintain that supply chain, where it feels like your strategy is pretty separate from that.

Barry McDonogh: I think it's—one, it's a function of having many different applications. So, we can use this technology for many different applications and it allows me to, sort of, throw a wider net out. You know, if you have one value proposition and you're only going to look for that particular application, you might try and capture a little bit more of the market directly yourselves.

I'm not saying the leveraged approach is perfect. I think one of the biggest learns I've had in the last year has been how I frame these partnerships upfront. So, I have had one particular partner, you know, we spent two years on a particular application. And they're a very large company, but they've had some sort of financial strain, and many of the people who are part of the program where that go, you know, they're not in the company anymore. And then this becomes sort of being deprioritized within the company. So, I think that's probably the biggest peril in this, that you have to be very careful in partners that you pick. And then also in terms of how you phrase the engagement in a way that you don't leave yourself open to be burned.

Jordan Tyler: Absolutely, and that comes back to a recurring theme throughout these conversations: it really does matter who you partner with. I'd like to move now into how you are preparing for the Plug and Play June Expo, which is where all the startups in the current Agtech and Animal Health cohorts will convene in Topeka, Kansas, to pitch to an audience of peers and investors, and there's even a little pitch competition aspect to it.

So, we are fast approaching this event, and I'd love to know, Barry, what does your prep look like leading up to June Expo?

Barry McDonogh: If I'm very honest, I have not started to think about it, but I'm very much looking forward to the event. I've loved meeting with, there's several of the founders, other founders that I've met with and really built a nice rapport with, so I'm just looking forward to catching up with them and having some Skittles and wine.

Mark McAllister: I was gonna bring up Skittles and wine as well! For those not familiar, the last time we had a little dinner with the batch founders here in Kansas, Barry showed us the trick of a great little quasi-dessert of a Skittle or two with a sip—

Barry McDonogh: There's a lot of, uh, wine connoisseurs that are getting very upset at the moment…

Mark McAllister: But, and I want to give Barry a quick kudos. The founders that succeed as part of our program relentlessly pursue Plug and Play team members for connections, for resources, for opportunities. I think Barry's done a really great job of that as part of the program. And for any founder who's part of an accelerator program, be dogged. Doggedly pursue whoever your program manager is, you know, the group you're working with.

Barry McDonogh: I would say, you know, it's all about what you put into it. Like any relationship, you've gotta be able to sort of spend some time. And it's really hard because as a founder, you're typically working all hours anyway. So, to find that extra time can be difficult.

But I would say to anybody looking to come into this, just take the seven or eight months and just really, you know, push as hard as you can because it's an unbelievable helping hand. My funding goals for the year are done now, you know, because of the engagement that we've had.

Mark McAllister: Tremendous success. There you go. Maybe this is shifting more to a personal question. If there was one challenge within the organization, one challenge with a partner, you know, if you were king for a day and you could solve one issue regardless of the intensity, what would it be for Hinalea here this year?

Barry McDonogh: That's a good one. So, we used to do the manufacturing in Asia and we are in the process of onshoring that production back to Pennsylvania, about 35 minutes away from where I live. So, that is probably one of the biggest operational challenges we have right now is, you know, the equipment has landed and in the next few weeks we're gonna be getting those operations up and running.

We did it because it's obviously a fairly turbulent scenario right now with lots of tariffs and all of those things, so it's proved a good time to bring that back to the U.S., but also from a quality perspective, it's far easier to manage your quality when the production facility is down the road versus when it's across the world.

There's lots of quality steps in that process and there's lots of areas for people to drop the ball, and it's very difficult because we can't identify some of these challenges until they're in the final product. So, you know, it's a little bit challenging from that perspective, but very happy that we will now have this all back in the U.S. We'll be able to identify quality challenges sooner.

Jordan Tyler: That sounds incredibly daunting, but also really rewarding for Hinalea long-term. So, exciting and terrifying!

Barry McDonogh: Yeah. Well, the intent is clear whether we, whether we factored everything in, we’ll find out soon enough.

Jordan Tyler: Coming back, Barry, on a more personal note—we've talked in previous episodes about some of the learnings you've gained from entrepreneurship and the Plug and Play program, but I'd like to know what you think has been the most meaningful moment for you personally as an entrepreneur.

had a very turbulent year in: 2023

And I just remember one Friday evening in October and you know, it was a horrible year. Brutal. There's no sugarcoating it. And I was just like so worried. And my wife said to me, she said, “What's going on, Barry?” And I said, “Oh, I mean, things could go south very quickly and we could lose the house because I would be liable for some of the shutdown costs.” And you know, my wife turned around to me and she said, “It doesn't matter. We can get another house, we can get a smaller house and we'll be fine.”

And it was just amazing, you know, it was, Jordan, just amazing to have that support, to know that I have that support in my wife and it's just so important because, I sort of mentioned before, being an entrepreneur can be very lonely and you know, you can spend a lot of time, everything comes on you and you know, to have that support just, you know, meant everything or means everything to me because, you know, it's lonely, but I know I have my family standing behind me all the time.

Jordan Tyler: I think that's a beautiful story and a testament to something else we've talked about in previous episodes, that family is your number one priority and having that reciprocal support is so special.

Barry McDonogh: Family first.

Jordan Tyler: Right. And last time we caught up, you mentioned you and your wife are expecting a fourth. Do you know the gender yet?

Barry McDonogh: We do, yes. It's gonna be another girl. So, four girls, one short of a basketball team. We think we're going to call her Juliet. So that's the front runner for the name right now.

Jordan Tyler: Oh, beautiful.

Mark McAllister: The story improves, it gets better. I love also asking this question to, to founders. Is that what you wanna be remembered for? Barry's a family man?

Barry McDonogh: I mean, just being a good dad. I mean, that's much more important to me than anything else. I really, really and truly, you know, I just wanna be a good dad. I want to earn enough that if anything ever happened to me, that my kids would be comfortable, and that's all I want. That's all I care about.

Jordan Tyler: From unexpected pivots and technology to the very real personal stakes of startup life, Barry's story reminds us that behind every innovation is a founder navigating both the highs and the hard moments. It's not just about the business model or the product market fit—entrepreneurship equally demands personal qualities like perseverance and resilience.

Next, let's check in with Dr. Daphne Preuss and Francesca Gallucci with Nataur. So Nataur is focused on commercializing microbial taurine—that is bio-based taurine made through fermentation rather than through petroleum—and they're doing this for a variety of markets, including pet nutrition, personal health and beauty products, and even in the beverage space. But the way they're doing it is through a platform technology, and that platform could also be adapted or tweaked to create other historically petroleum-based compounds that show up in a lot of our food and personal care products.

So Daphne, what does that innovation pipeline look like for you right now and what's next?

Dr. Daphne Preuss: In the course of figuring out how to make taurine, we figured out how a microbe can use sulfur and to direct sulfur into biosynthetic pathways. So, we really started understanding microbial sulfur metabolism and that meant we had to look at a lot of pathways and processes, how the microbe takes sulfur inside of it, you know, how it processes that sulfur, how it uses it to add to other molecule scaffolds, how those are secreted.

So there were just a lot of steps when it comes to—all the ingredients are small molecules that we encounter. About a fourth of them have sulfur in there. So, it's a huge target, a huge opportunity. And it ranges from antioxidants to vitamins, all kinds of antibiotics, all sorts of important things.

So, we've been looking at the list of important molecules and sorting out which ones we can do technically and where the market opportunity is and where the demand for a biological source is. Because most of these, just like current synthetic taurine, they're typically made from petroleum and there's a lot of pressure to and interest to move away from that.

So, we're seeing that we have the technology and the capability, we believe we can go from start to manufacturing on the benchtop within six months, so we can move very, very quickly. And then once we get to that stage, then it's about strain optimization and then converting to large scale manufacturing.

Some of these sulfur containing molecules are really rare. They often will contribute to flavors or fragrances or other, you know, interesting activities, but in really minute quantities, and so we're finding that we can make some things that are very high-value and they don't require a whole factory to make. It might be that we can make a year's supply just with a few runs at the benchtop.

Jordan Tyler: So, what you're saying is you're just getting started.

Dr. Daphne Preuss: Yeah. So that's, yeah. We're going to develop a library of sulfur containing molecules as we go.

Jordan Tyler: Very cool. We've talked about microbial taurine as a great solution for pet nutrition, but we left it on a bit of a cliffhanger. You mentioned there are tons of other applications that would benefit from a cleaner, more sustainable source of taurine. So Francesca, would you mind elaborating on some of those other markets?

Francesca Gallucci: I think it aligns, what we're seeing is it aligns with some trends in the general nutrition and human space, right around this gut microbiome and longevity and brain health. And it fits with the other macro trends we're seeing, like where and how are these ingredients made in the supply chain. And the gut piece, the science of it, there's a couple key studies that have come out, but our taurine I think is gonna have an exciting application there because of that conscious consumer is focused on health. Like what am I putting in my body if I'm so concerned about my gut microbiome? And so really the origin story and the ingredients and what's not in our taurine is gonna play into that, that health conscious in the human space market.

Dr. Daphne Preuss: Another market for people that I think a lot of your audience will be familiar with is energy drinks. So, if you drink Red Bull or Monster or many others, they often have taurine there. That's because taurine really is needed for building muscle mass and handling exertion in a good way. Just like in the pet side when people are, you know, providing it in dog food, particularly for large muscular breeds, people who like to work out a lot are finding that there's some benefits to taurine. So that's, that's another really interesting functional kind of component.

Another one that we've really recently started digging into is vision and healthy retinas, and taurine is important for protecting against age-related macular degeneration and things like that, or diabetic retinopathy, general degeneration of your retina. So, a lot of those things, because the taurine can, you know, help with protecting against damage and oxidation. This is where people are finding that it's really important for vision, it's being added into a number of supplements, but also in eyedrops.

And, you know, again, we focused on the pet applications, but, today on the market, there are supplements of taurine. I take one daily, I really like how I feel. I think, you know, there are a lot of big fans of taurine out there and we mentioned that, as adults, we typically are getting our taurine from eating meat or dairy. So, if you only have a plant-based diet or a primarily a plant-based diet, you may find you're deficient in taurine. So, doesn't hurt to supplement that a bit.

Jordan Tyler: Yeah, that's really fascinating. I had no idea it was so widely used and beneficial in so many different product categories. And I know Nataur is a B2B company, meaning selling their microbial taurine to product manufacturers and then they would sell to consumers, but it still feels like education could go a long way for Nataur. So, is that a priority right now? Or maybe something you're looking at down the road?

Dr. Daphne Preuss: Well, I would say we're aware that we want to. Part of our financing, a big part of it is going to be aimed at marketing, and this is falling in Fran’s area of responsibility here of thinking about consistent messaging and how to get people excited about that. Anything you wanna—?

Francesca Gallucci: Yeah. I think that's an important part of a B2B startup is still educating the consumer, right? Because ultimately that's where the demand comes from. That's what's driving why we have supplement companies inbound coming to us saying, “Hey, we want this type of taurine,” and that's coming from consumer demand for these ingredients.

So, part of our strategy over the next year will be to approach the consumer through education, but also, you're educating the buyers in the B2B space, the people who are formulating, the people that are coming up with marketing of supplements. So, you're talking to those audiences, but there is always a tradeoff, even in a B2B business, about educating the broader actual buyer.

nue to develop the company in: 2025

Dr. Daphne Preuss: To me, it feels like the network that we've been introduced to has been really, really important. And again, that touches up on a lot of what Fran's doing with sales, but just the interfacing with all the various companies, understanding what their needs might be, and then coming back to our business and understanding, can we meet those needs? What can we do that will result in a good partnership?

We've had so many calls and connections. We know as soon as we're starting to manufacture that there are people who want to buy this. So that's been very good. It's also been good to understand inside the big companies, how they define the state of readiness. And a lot of times I think the small company feels like, “Oh, we've done it. We're ready, let's go!” And the big company is sort of saying, “Guys, you're at step one.” You know, and now we have all these other steps. So that's been really good learnings and I know some of these will result in collaborations, for sure.

The other good networking has been on financing side, and even if some of these firms are saying, “Hey, you're really too small for us to think about investing equity in you,” they've been very generous with opening up their networks and introducing us to others, and that's made a lot of difference.

Fran, you've been the boots on the ground with Plug and Play and all of these, you know, intros to people. Would you like to just share any stories or—?

Francesca Gallucci: Yeah, well, I think you've kind of hit it there. It's been the access to different types of folks that some of the other founders have introduced us to other companies that are working in, say, the functional beverage space, being able to talk to some of the investment team that's focused on the food tech side, and following and getting in into the networks that are excited about the gut microbiome.

So, finding that network of people has been a big Plug and Play benefit. I'd say also during these last couple months, understanding our local market for investment. So, we're based in Maryland and understanding what the local economy is driving and understanding the state of Maryland's biotech incentive program and why it's attractive for startups to be here. And finding our network within the local economy has been a big opener for us in the last year. So, you know, starting in these different areas and understanding the incentives for growing and where you are

Dr. Daphne Preuss: The first money into companies, it often comes from the local, regional networks. There's an interest often in states or communities to provide economic development funding. So sometimes there's that. The other thing is the local investors sort of, they like to drive by and stop by and say hello, and you know, if they're, if they're a continent away, that's a bit hard to do. So, that local connection often helps.

Jordan Tyler: That's a great insight for other entrepreneurs out there. Now, so we talked about the past, let's talk about the future, and coming up fast is the Plug and Play June Expo event. Is there anything in particular that you all or the Nataur team is doing to prepare for that?

Dr. Daphne Preuss: Nothing special. You know, if we had a marketing team on board, I would give them the slides that we made and tell them to make them more attractive. But we've all been pitching various things for quite a while. Again, the key is getting your message across in a very clear way and figuring out, what are those key points? So, all these conversations we're having day to day, whether they're with investors or potential customers, it's helping us sharpen and refine that message.

I suppose we will dig in and really work on the deck about two weeks before the conference, because things keep evolving all the time, particularly on the science. I love it. Every few weeks it's like, oh, we've increased the yield, we've increased the titer. So, you know, we just keep hearing better, better, better production coming out of this.

Jordan Tyler: That's awesome. Congrats! Sounds like really exciting stuff all around. But before I let y'all go today, I'd like to get a little personal. Daphne—having been involved in many startups throughout your career and having dedicated your time to help other entrepreneurs bring their ideas to market, what personally drives you to continue working with founders and startups and to continue innovating and building new things?

Dr. Daphne Preuss: You know, just the passion for making things better. When I look at how things are done today, I often see problems, deficiencies, shortcomings, and if I know how to fix that, it's really hard to resist. You know, I just wanna dive in and fix it.

In terms of just the shape of the planet right now, there's a big transition going on to move everything to a cleaner way of doing it. We have the knowledge now, we should do it in a way that's better for our own health and better for the environment. So, if we can figure that out, and then if it's economically better, now you've got all the pieces. So, it should just happen, but a lot of times it takes a couple committed people to get it kind of over that hill, get the path to market and figure that out.

Jordan Tyler: Yeah. Just a passionate scientist who wants to make the world a better place. I love that.

Dr. Daphne Preuss: It's been that way since I was a kid. Yeah. I can't seem to get over that one. But usually, you know, it's incredibly gratifying to see products that you've made, um, to see changes that you've made. It's really wonderful.

Jordan Tyler: So Nataur is busy pushing the boundaries of what's possible, not just with microbial taurine, but with a whole platform that could unlock cleaner, more sustainable alternatives to so many crucial—but currently petroleum-derived—nutrients.

Lastly today, we'll catch up with Sebastian Doyle, founder of Medipups. This brand is manufacturing human grade supplements for dogs that address specific health concerns, but doing so in a way that really prioritizes accessibility, transparency, and affordability for today's pet parents.

So, Sebastian, we were chatting a little bit before we started recording, and you mentioned you had some exciting updates to share. So, let's start there. What's been going on with Medipups?

Sebastian Doyle: Yeah, we've got some new products which are coming in, which are great. We've done a bunch of R&D testing, palatability tests on them, which is always actually quite a lot of fun. So, we've been doing that and got a dental product coming out and we've got an allergy and immune… Actually, sorry, we've got three products coming out—and then we've got a live prolonging product, which is coming out. That one is not exactly ready, but the two first ones are. So, going pretty crazy on product releases. It's a lot of fun. I've got more, but we'll keep that one for the next one.

Jordan Tyler: Sounds like you're very busy. And that kind of leads me to my second question, kind of around how you formulate these products. Like do you partner with a vet or a product formulator or a nutritionist? What does that process look like for Medipups?

Sebastian Doyle: So, I mainly do the, the branding, the marketing side. And we, yeah, we work close. It's a highly collaborative event. We work closely with vets, nutritionists, and chefs. That's really their realm to make sure everything is legal, that the dogs want to eat it, and I can actually sell the products. We've been so lucky to have Topeka GO get involved and then do a peer review on our ingredients that we're using and actually validate it, which takes it to that even, yeah, to the next step, which is like, okay, well we're really onto something great. Customers love our product. So, it really rounded up, I guess the journey of the product creation.

Mark McAllister: I'm curious at what point you bring in the chefs.

Sebastian Doyle: Immediately. Straight away, straight away. I was like, make it tasty, let's make sure they're gonna eat this stuff. Our chef's actually great. She's out of Vegas. Really talented, really cool. You know, I think we spoke about this a long time ago, but we underwent a lot of R&D to start to make sure, because initially the dogs just wouldn't eat it. It just smelled too strong, there was too much of this, too much of that, and we've managed to nail it. And now, their processes are pretty much nailed. I don't have as much involvement in that. I let them do… I don't wanna mess with the cooks in the kitchen, but I let them do their stuff and it’s worked so far, so it's so far so good.

Mark McAllister: Love it. I think maybe this goes into a bit more on the metrics side. What I think we’re always curious when we chat with founders, you know, what your metrics for success are, and that can be product specific, that can be, you know, quarter specific, that can be go-to-market specific. So maybe take this any way you want, but we'd love to dig a little deeper on, for Medipups specifically, give us a framing on how you measure success and specifically how you measure success of individual products.

Sebastian Doyle: So for Medipups, really the main thing, since we're a startup and the numbers are really important, it's cost of acquisition to LTV. Making sure, because we're a subscription platform, so if someone is gonna buy Medipups to subscribe, how long are they gonna stick around? And we have a very high LTV. So for me, even if we have to spend $100 for a $30 acquisition, that's a win, because they're gonna be in the long run. They're spending $500 to $600, which is huge at this stage.

But that, for us, is a big barometer of success because a lot of people get jaded when it's like, “Okay, oh no, my return on ad spend initially is terrible. It's—we're not successful.” It's like, no, no, no, look at the numbers. This customer is gonna spend a lot of money with you and they might spend money with you for the next 10 years. They have their dog 10 to 15 years, you know?

So that for me is I guess more the dollar metric, but also look at successes in terms of, you know, new products, new markets. We're kind of getting to like the dental kind of market, the allergy kind of side of it, and the life prolonging. But yeah, the metrics really for me, I'd look at cost of acquisition and LTV. Product costs and everything, we have nailed, so managed to kind of get that out the way.

Jordan Tyler: For those of us… me… who didn't know what LTV stands for, it stands for lifetime value. So, Sebastian is saying here, if he has to spend more to acquire a customer, but that customer is gonna add long-term or lifetime value to the Medipups business, it's worth every penny.

Mark McAllister: As a percentage of lifetime value, what's a ceiling you're willing to spend on acquisition per customer?

Sebastian Doyle: $120 to $130, and that's really on the high end. But you know, recently we've been in the $70 to $80 range, so we're doing great. The difficult bit is really at scale because those costs skyrocket, so that's probably the main pain point. But that's as much as we're willing to go.

Mark McAllister: It varies based on the companies I've chatted with. So, by the way, that's a simpler equation than I've heard from several. So, I like it.

Sebastian Doyle: Really? Yeah… Simple is better. Some people get a little bit too complex. I like to keep it just straightforward and all that.

Jordan Tyler: Yeah, keep it simple, So last time we talked, you mentioned you saw kind of a windfall from the change in the guard, you know, the presidential election. And fast forward a few months into that, and now all the headlines are about tariffs. So, I'm curious, I know that you have your own manufacturing in-house, but have you run into any challenges when it comes to ingredient sourcing with the global supply chain landscape the way it is currently?

Sebastian Doyle: So, luckily I built this company a few years ago with this in mind, thinking I want to have everything locally sourced, have everything locally accessible of costs. We're gonna be a little bit higher, of course, but nothing on the tariffs is affecting me. So, I'm in the green light. I've got, you know, my own manufacturing. It's paid off. So, I don't have any issues in that sense.

However, funny enough, the ad costs, after all the tariffs, have gone up. So, there's like the, like, Meta ads, TikTok and all that kind of stuff got hit pretty hard with CPMs and all that kind of stuff. So, you're always at the mercy of Meta when you're in direct-to-consumer brands. So that has been an issue, but in terms of sourcing ingredients and all that kind of stuff, we're not affected by that at all.

Mark McAllister: I was recently listening to a longer form interview of one of the venture investors whose basic premise for what he shared was, don't have a career plan. Career plans are far too rigid and will end up guiding you in in the wrong direction. Instead, you know, build skills and be opportunistic.

Sebastian Doyle: Yeah, I love that.

Mark McAllister: Yeah. Contrast that for maybe your experience. I know you've moved from one opportunity to the next.

Sebastian Doyle: Yep.

Mark McAllister: And maybe the question I'm getting at is, you know, what opportunities have you taken advantage of and how do you take advantage of opportunities? How do you be opportunistic?

Sebastian Doyle: That's actually funny—story of my life. That quote is the story of my life. There's always a plan and I always try and stick to the plan, but it never goes to plan. I always either deviate or find an opportunity. For example, the dental market. I mean, I never exactly had that set in stone or as a plan or those other products, but it's, as you grow your skill in this space, you start understanding, what is the next step? What should I do now? When is the time? And you know, you'll know when the time is right, and that's pretty much what's happening now.

We understand the customers, we understand what they like, we understand what the logical next step to do is. If I launched a brand with, “Okay, we're gonna do this,” then I would fall flat on my face because it wouldn't probably be the right timing. So yeah, timing of that is very important, and making a strategic next step instead of trying to plan it out is really key.

Mark McAllister: What do you think the biggest gap in the market is right now from a product standpoint for dental?

Sebastian Doyle: For dental? I think there's a few companies doing the powdered, it's like a powdered kibble topper and stuff like that. You need some like, an actual approach to dental sticks that don't have any nasties in there, you know, because that’s not good for your dog. So, creating a product that is like that, but without the nasties, it's really the goal.

Jordan Tyler: So, moving into the Plug and Play program. So, I'm curious to know what you've been exposed to and what you've learned from the program in the last couple months since we chatted?

Sebastian Doyle: Mm-hmm. I've spoken to a bunch of mentors. Again, getting a lot of conversations going with them and great feedback as well about the brands’ next steps and what the plan should look like and how to move ahead with Medipups and really scale it into the next thing. I’ve had some very good conversations basically about how to raise value for the company.

So yeah, Plug and Play has been amazing. And then, oh yeah, this is actually, I forgot I didn't mention this. So, we've partnered again with Topeka GO for another round of peer review analysis for one of our products, for the future product coming up. So we're doing that with them, which is great.

And then there is, it's not set yet, but we're trying to get a vet-style endorsement for the products. That's not confirmed, we're not sure, but that is also something that we've been doing. So, Plug and Play has just being of immense value for Medipups. We've just really been able to round up the company, legitimize our products, and help our marketing.

Mark McAllister: Sebastian, do you feel that the traction you've gotten so far with your product lines is confirmation that the market's willing, interested, prepared to pay for, you know, essentially higher tested products?

Sebastian Doyle: Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. After years, you know, it's enough validation for me to understand there's a real market, there's a real need as well. It's not just a want with this product, which is why it's so good. It's actually helping their dog. They're actually subscribing and coming back for more because it’s, they're seeing results in our claims. So, I think there is, and I think the dental and the life prolonging product's gonna be a hit. We're really excited for that.

Mark McAllister: So, you've got the June pitch event as part of Plug and Play coming up here in a month or two. As the marketing guy, how are you preparing for that? And then maybe more broadly, what are the secrets to a great pitch deck? What do you focus on when messaging to a diverse audience? How do you think about preparing for this and what does your pitch deck look like?

Sebastian Doyle: Yeah, so that's a great question actually. I'm really refining the deck. I just really want to clearly communicate the issue that Medipups is solving, you know, the brand vision. I just need to make sure that my point is getting across efficiently, clearly, and, you know, I'm doing a little bit of rehearsing, so make sure I don't fumble on stage.

So, the pitch is actually looking really good. I, I'm trying to not be a perfectionist and go a bit too crazy on it. I'm just trying to just be very true to what my, what is my vision? What am I trying to do, and how am I accomplishing it, and what have I accomplished already? So, yeah, it’s, I'm actually really, really excited for it.

Mark McAllister: I look forward to seeing it.

Sebastian Doyle: Yeah, it's gonna be fun.

Jordan Tyler: Yeah. That'll definitely be a highlight. Between that and Skittles and wine and just generally having super interesting conversations, I am so there. Sebastian, before we let you go today, I have kind of a devil's advocate question, which is, if you had a magic wand, or if you were, as Mark puts, it king for a day, and you could wave that wand or make a decree to eradicate one thing that is challenging with Medipups right now, that's just keeping you up at night, what would that be for you right now?

Sebastian Doyle: For Medipups specifically, I'd say, you know, going back to the transparency in the space, fast forwarding the trust building and awareness curve, you know, because what we’ve done, what we've created is truly a great product that works. Now it's the convincing, the whole process is—it's great, and don't get me wrong, I love it—but if you could fast forward and be like, “Hey, I created something great. Let's go, let's scale this. You all should be eating this. All your dogs should have this.” That would be great. You know, that’s the magic wand.

Jordan Tyler: Okay, so if Sebastian were king for a day, he would be a tyrant and everyone would be eating Medipups.

Mark McAllister: That is the fastest way to scale.

Sebastian Doyle: Absolutely. No choice. They're not allowed to say yes or no.

Jordan Tyler: So, as we wrap up today, here's what stood out: Nataur’s journey shows us how reimagining ingredient sourcing—right down to the molecular level—can create massive ripple effects in sustainability and in human health. And Barry's story with Hinalea reminds us that agility, honesty, and the right partners can turn a humble startup into a platform for global impact. For Sebastian, staying savvy and capitalizing on timely opportunities and consumer demand is poised to take Medi Pups to the next level.

Mark McAllister: As Sebastian teased, Medipups has some really exciting updates that he'll be ready to share with us at Tune Expo. Stay tuned.

Jordan Tyler: To all our listeners, thank you for tuning in today. If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to subscribe, leave us a review, and share the episode with a fellow entrepreneur or pet lover. We've got more incredible founders and industry disruptors coming your way soon, so be sure to stay tuned.

Until then, remember: every breakthrough has a unique beginning and behind every founder is a story worth hearing. We'll see you next time!