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Dr. Kathrin Hamm (PhD Economics) didn’t set out to be a founder. She just wanted to sleep. One ugly “medical” weighted blanket fixed her insomnia… then made her realize the whole category was stuck in 30-year-old design, plastic beads, and overheating. So she rebuilt it from scratch with a chunky-knit, breathable form factor that looks like home decor, not a pharmacy product.

Role-based hook: For DTC founders building a new category (or trying to escape the “Meta-only” trap) and scaling from early traction into real distribution.

In this episode we get tactical on:

• Why Bearaby launched on Kickstarter to bypass “what even is this?” cold traffic friction
• How the product design (breathable chunky knit) became the marketing
• The early growth engine: gifting + press + interior design circles, before paid
• A surprisingly underrated channel: TV/Netflix set placements as free cultural reach
• What changed on Meta: why creative strategists + creative diversity is now non-negotiable
• Europe expansion lessons: language, sleep habits, visuals, and humor are not transferable

Who this is for: founders + marketers selling anything that requires education (sleep, wellness, new formats, “never seen this before” products).

What to steal:

• Launch new categories where early adopters already are (Kickstarter) so you can teach before you sell
• Build an earned pipeline (editors, designers, set decorators) that compounds for years
• Treat each country like its own market: copy, visuals, and cultural jokes included

Timestamps

00:00 Bearaby origin story

02:08 Discovering weighted blankets for sleep

04:18 Why old weighted blankets failed

08:05 Selling out the first 800 blankets

10:10 Turning weighted blankets into a lifestyle brand

14:20 Why Kickstarter and gifting worked

18:15 Getting Bearaby onto Netflix sets

20:45 Scaling through DTC, Amazon and retail

24:45 Expanding Bearaby into Europe

29:05 Germany launch and viral egg hats

32:20 How Meta creative changed

34:35 Dealing with copycats

37:35 New product innovation beyond blankets

42:00 Where Bearaby is headed

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