Halle Berry on the Probiotics Industry Boom YOUTUBE

Colleen, of the many things that Pendulum offers, what is the technology? What is it that's different and the innovation that you've done to any other off-the-shelf that you could get? The technology is really grounded in the innovation of using DNA sequencing technologies to understand what are all the different microbes in the gut, how do they map to each other, and how do they map to the human, and using that to generate products as opposed to taking the already existing probiotics out there and kind of mixing and matching. And so that's really the difference. They're innovative strains. The way you manufacture them is innovative. The way that you formulate them is innovative. And the efficacy is the number one name of the game. We are outside of just GI health and really into metabolic health. What I find fascinating, Hallie, about this story is you put venture-backed in front of the name. It changes the narrative around not just the company but the industry. When you were out there, I know Sequoia, that's the big name we're talking about, are you kind of putting forward more the story about the technology? Or are you putting more forward the story about the person next to you, Colleen? I'm putting forward the story about the efficacy of the products. Because when I came to the products, I was just like everybody else out there trying to siphon through what products actually worked and what moved my needle, what made me feel better. So I come to this as a layman who is very concerned about my health, who takes it very seriously. And I finally found a product that actually did the things that, one, it said it would do and the things that I needed to do. So that is what my role is going to be. She's got the science handle. Not that I don't care about the science because I love learning from her. But my job within this company is to get the message out to everybody else that this actually does work and to explain to them kind of what probiotics do because so many of us don't know. We hear that they're good for us, but we really don't know why. So that's kind of my job, to talk about it. Would you explain the backstory? How did you become aware of Pendulum? What was the start of the relationship? Well, because I've been a diabetic since I'm 19 years old, I have someone that I know at the Cleveland Clinic who reached out to me and said, hey, there's this new probiotic you should really try. If the clinic is backing it, the Mayo Clinic is backing it. I know you're always worried about your A1Cs and managing your diabetes with your diet and exercise, and this might actually help you. So I said, hey, give it a try. And I tried it. Right away, I saw within three to six months, I saw really big changes in my A1Cs, my energy level, sleep, brain fog, metabolism, this subcutaneous layer that sits right here on women of my age. That was better. So I finally said, hey, I've got to reach out to Colleen. I realized that she was the scientist behind this, and I wanted to reach out and learn more. We hit it off. The minute we got together, she started to educate me and explain the science behind the product, and she allowed me to sort of come on board. She thought, I think, I said, can I help you help people know about what this product is and the science behind this and how it can really move their needle? The doctor, there's the CEO, there's the founder. What was it like launching and growing a business at first, and including raising money from a big-name venture capital firm, even in the kind of intersection of medicine and foods? There is issues of regulation, non-regulation. They are often born out of academia. I'm just fascinated by the origin story of this company. I think, as with any big initiative, when you start it, you don't necessarily know what you're taking on. It's mostly ignorance and naivety that got us here. We knew that the gut microbiome was a new frontier in science. Our first investors were not in ABCs. It was the Mayo Clinic, because they agreed there's something really interesting about the gut and how we can tackle diseases around that. That was it. It was a very simple premise. The gut microbiome is an entirely new organ that has never been targeted before that can help people with a myriad of diseases. From there, we stepped forward. I think when you have a vision like that, about looking at shelves of probiotics and saying, we're not even in there, we're really a technology-based company using DNA sequencing and metabolic maps, and this high-end manufacturing that nobody else in the world is doing to create these products, we ended up attracting the kind of investors that like to see world-changing and category-creating products. And we attract the kind of talent that wants to get involved in something that they've seen that's different than anything else they've experienced. And so we've been very fortunate in that it seemed, from a science standpoint, there was an obvious opportunity. And all along the way, we've just been surrounded by amazing people who see that vision, too. You talked about the manufacturing. This is a U.S. company that is doing business but also making in this country. Why did you choose to go down that route? Not only is everything made in the USA, it's made in San Francisco. And the reason for that was out of necessity, frankly. So your gut microbiome, when people talk about gut health and the gut microbiome, there's actually no oxygen in your gut. And so these strains that we selected based on their ability to have efficacy, we actually tried to get other people to grow them for us, and nobody could grow them. And we realized, after we visited all these manufacturing plants, that you had to create a very special plant that, end-to-end, kept all the oxygen from the atmosphere out of the system. And so we ended up building it here, and I think you can see other technologies that have sort of followed suit. Tesla would be another example. You've got a car, for sure, and you say, well, why didn't you just manufacture that in Detroit? And the fact is that there are parts to that car, and there are parts to these probiotics that you really needed hard-core science and engineering to build. And so we engineered a plant here in San Francisco. Hallie. Yeah, and it's pretty impressive. Well, how much do you lean into that? So I assume part of your role is thinking about future investors, but also growing the brand. It's a consumer product, right? So scale it for me. Tell me how you take the message out there, but then get it in more lanes for sale, in more consumers' stomachs. Well, I think it all starts with communication, talking about it, getting them to get interested in the brand, getting them to go try it, to see for themselves. Like Colleen and I always talk about, don't just take it because I say. What I would love people to do is go try it, because I ask them to. And then they decide for themselves. And I think that's how you start to scale it, because it really does work. You know, it's not one of these products that just has a pretty package. As a matter of fact, it didn't have such a pretty package when I came along, and I said, you need to put this product in a pretty package. Because what I find is things that often sometimes scale, sometimes it's marketing. You know, they have a pretty bottle, and it's marketed the right way. And as consumers, we're often drawn to that. So now knowing that she's got this like world-class product here, I said to her, now it has to look like that too, because that is very much a part of how we buy as consumers. We don't always buy, you know, with our brain. Half the time we buy because something is a pretty bottle, and we like how it's going to look on our, you know, on our bathroom next to our toothbrush, right? So it's about bringing it all together, having what be in the bottle be, you know, have efficacy, but also have it look like something that's inspiring, you know, that's aspirational. So both of you, I can look at Pendulum, and I say, this is a start-up. It's a technology start-up. How do you behave for the future? Are you hiring aggressively? Are you raising money? You know, and I wonder which of you should take that question, how your relationship is with each other? Well, I think it's a really complimentary relationship. If you don't mind, I'll go ahead, which is if you have the right to say otherwise. But it really is a great partnership, because even the first time that Hallie came up and visited the manufacturing plant, it really told me a lot about her, where she said, I want to come see the plant. She wasn't out there sort of saying, all right, right. I don't really care. And on that day of that visit, what was amazing was that not only did she learn about the manufacturing plant and was asking a lot of questions about the science. Super smart. But I also got an opportunity to hear how she thinks about brand. And so this packaging where she says, look, the innovation of the outside has to match the innovation on the inside. It's not just about all the science talk and the mechanism of action and the Mayo Clinic and the Cleveland Clinic. We have to reach people in a way that we're meeting them where they are. And we're hitting both the emotional side and the aspirational side and the scientific side all at once. And so we've really I have learned a ton from this woman. The packaging is a hilarious story, because I was like, Holly, the bottle's just fine. Like, don't worry. It's what's on the inside. Why is it called Pendulum out of interest? Why the name? Well, in Paris, this is where it's developed. We actually have one here in San Francisco. There's the Foucault Pendulum. And the pendulum basically goes in a perfect circle. It's a perfect circle and it has no motor. It's entirely driven by the Earth's gravitational force. And so that name really drew us in because it is the movement of nature paired with the accuracy of science. And that's what we're doing. It's profound. And I have to ask you, we can't get away to your global superstar. You're an actor. But do you feel like a founder, co-founder or an entrepreneur? You know, which Halle Berry is sitting before me is essentially what I'm asking. I feel both. I feel like I will always be an actor. You know, that's like, you know, my first love. But I also realize that, you know, as I go down this path of life, that I have other interests and I have other things that I absolutely believe in. And I want to use my voice and I want to use my creativity in other ways. And we're not talking about it here. But I have other things on my own that I'm also working on, too, that are very much in line with what I'm doing here with Colleen. But there are things that, you know, I feel really passionate about also. What's it like to have skin in the game, if you know what I mean? You know, you are a director of this company. I don't know if you put your own money into the company as well. That's very different sort of relationship with your work than than being an actor in some sense. Yeah, I've done that in my films as well. So I understand what that's like if you really believe in something. The last film, my first film that I directed, I put almost a half a million dollars of my own money into the movie to get it done. So I believe if you really believe in something, it's not that scary to put your skin in the game, you know, when you're doing it for the right reasons. If I didn't believe in it, that would be scary. Yeah. But because I believe in it so much, that's not it's not scary at all. Well, it's actually hilarious because people always ask me, how much do you pay Halle Berry to say all that stuff? I said, well, actually, she paid us. That's the reality of this relationship. OK, you're going to you're on the Bloomberg Technology Show. You are at the Bloomberg Technology Summit. We have to ask this question. It is the Silicon Valley story. What's the future IPO? Raise more money, sell to a bigger player in an analogous field. You know, how do you feel about that at this stage of the company's lifecycle? I mean, I from the day we started the company to today, to what I hope is going to be true into the infinite future, the company has been centered and grounded in how do we help people? And so right now we're helping tens of thousands of people. And so when I think about the future is how do we get to hundreds of thousands of people, to millions of people? And that's what it's all about. And I think if you create a product that people love and it's bringing benefit to the world, all of that other financial stuff would just fall into place. And where do you see Pendulum a year from now? It sounds like you have some big plans, but you just don't. I know she's like some wonderful things are in our cooking. OK, so come back when they're ready and tell me. Let me ask you this one final question, Ali. What's it? Is it kind of addictive being an investor, corporate director? Will we see you move into other startups and adjacent fields? I think, you know, this is the question. What's next, Halle Berry? Yeah, and I believe you describe it as your second act. Yeah. Yeah, I'm working solo. Maybe Colleen will come and partner with me. I'm working in the menopause field on something very exciting that I'm that I'm working on. I was in CanLion. This came there straight from there to here to start to sort of see the other things that I'm working on, too. Not ready to talk about it yet, but yeah, this will definitely be my second act. You have an open invite to come on Bloomberg Technology. If it's technology related, Halle, Colleen, thank you so much for your time. Thank you. Thank you for having us.