01:09 - Reinventing leather
02:44 - Competing on quality, not just sustainability
04:11 - Speeding up the supply chain
06:32 - Leaving corporate for startup life
06:32 - Leaving corporate for startup life
18:16 - Insights on attention and decision-making in business
01:09 - Reinventing leather
Michael Newton shares how his company, Qorium, is making real leather without involving cows. He explains the environmental, ethical, and manufacturing benefits, emphasizing that their product is made from real leather in a new and more sustainable way.
02:44 - Competing on quality, not just sustainability
Michael discusses why Qorium’s success isn’t solely due to its green or sustainable nature. Drawing on his experience at Nike, he emphasizes that a product must be beautiful, desirable, and competitively priced for consumers. Sustainability, while valuable, isn’t the primary sales driver.
04:11 - Speeding up the supply chain
The conversation turns to production timelines. Michael explains that traditional leather from cows can take up to two years to produce, whereas Qorium’s biotech-based leather is made in approximately four weeks. He discusses the broader implications for supply chain resilience, local manufacturing, and transparency.
06:32 - Leaving corporate for startup life
Beck asks about Michael’s transition from running large teams at Nike to leading a 20-person biotech startup in Europe. Michael talks candidly about the ‘whiplash’ jump, the steep learning curve, and why he finds the hands-on, high-impact startup environment rewarding, despite the occasional longing for corporate resources.
9:34 - The value of experience vs. youth in startups
They discuss the evolving perception in venture capital of founder ‘types’—seasoned versus youthful. Michael speaks to the data showing older, experienced founders tend to be more successful, and how his own years at Nike and previous startups better prepare him to handle the long game of running a startup.
18:16 - Insights on attention and decision-making in business
To close out the episode, Michael shares what has recently become clear to him: we live in an attention economy, and human psychology and bias now play a larger role than ever in business and society. He links this back to how decisions are shaped and why understanding these forces is crucial for leaders today.
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