The Next Great Thing
An exploration into new digital products and experiences — and conversations with the people making them great. What separates a good digital product or experience from being the next great thing in our lives? It’s not just one thing, it’s lots of things — ideas, people, inspiration, distribution, longevity, luck. Host Andrew Greenstein talks with founders, CEOs, product heads, makers, producers, designers, and digital creationists about how they’re coming up with big ideas, pushing creative boundaries, and expanding what’s possible in the digital space. The Next Great Thing podcast is a production of SF AppWorks. Learn more at www.sfappworks.com.
The Next Great Thing
Matteo Franceschetti, Co-Founder & CEO, Eight Sleep - The tech optimizing our sleep fitness
We’re constantly looking for ways to track, goal-set, and optimize our physical fitness. Why don’t we do the same with sleep – something we spend one-third of our life doing and foundational to our health? This question was Matteo Franceschetti's "ah-ha" moment. A former competitive athlete, Matteo has had a lifelong obsession with optimizing recovery and personal performance. Sleep is not just rest, he realized; it's fitness. So, in 2014, he co-founded and became the CEO of Eight Sleep, a sleep technology company whose smart mattresses and mattress covers -- or, “Pods,” as they’re called – utilize medical-grade sensors and AI to regulate mattress temperature and help you track and optimize your sleep fitness. Eight Sleep has been recognized as one of Fast Company's Most Innovative Companies and TIME's Best Inventions. Matteo joins us to explain how the company got there, walking us through his founder journey and Eight Sleep’s early days – from a successful crowdfunding campaign to sourcing manufacturers in China, persistence in applying to Y Combinator (third time’s the charm!), securing investors, signing influencers, and navigating the push/pull dynamics of product-market fit.
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