131: The Rise of Foodhak. Empowering wellness through intelligent nutrition with Sakshi Mittal

The Elephant in the Room

Shownotes:

The businesses most likely to succeed are those that are born to solve real life problems. Would you agree?

For Sakshi Mittal, a Wharton educated, investor at Softbank, a health crisis during her first pregnancy was the trigger to her entrepreneurial journey. The result was Foodhak – a physical and digital ecosystem that challenges the food industry and makes 'food as medicine' accessible to all. Technology and AI are used at Foodhak to gain insights from the latest research and empower consumers in their dietary choices.

The first time I heard Sakshi (her child was in the audience with a minder) speak at the India Week in London, I was intrigued by Foodhak (the name), her ‘food as medicine’ mantra, her decision to move away from a highly successful career at Softbank etc…. So I decided to dig deeper and invited her to be a guest on The Elephant in the Room.

In this free flowing conversation we spoke about 👇🏾👇🏾👇🏾

• Why it required courage to transition from a career in finance to entrepreneurship? We also spoke about the accompanying discomfort and uncertainty
• How Foodhak is leveraging technology, including machine learning, to interpret clinical research on nutrition, with the aim of empowering consumers with personalized dietary advice through an innovative app
• Sustainability as a core principle at Food Hak, using healthier and sustainable ingredients, like millets, while also optimizing packaging to reduce environmental impact
• Why work-life balance, is integral to her well-being and family time is an opportunity to recharge from the demands of entrepreneurship
• The crucial role networking and mentorship play in fostering connections that can lead to collaborations and support in developing a successful business.

She also spoke about the unique challenges faced by female founders, the influence of her family on her work ethics, her career trajectory, her partnership with Deepak Chopra…….

I am in awe of all entrepreneurs, the belief, hard work, commitment, dedication, the relentless nature of running a business – it is inspiring. And women entrepreneurs who navigate the intersectional demands of their personal and professional lives deserve especially to be recognised and celebrated.

So, here to celebrating risk taking in the pursuit of one’s passion.

To learn more about Sakshi’s journey head to the podcast 👇🏾👇🏾👇🏾

Episode Transcript:

Sudha: Hey, Sakshi. Wonderful to finally have you here today as a guest on my podcast, The Elephant in the Room.

Sakshi: Thank you for having me.

Sudha: Let's get started. Who is Sakshi Chhabra Mittal? I saw you on the panel discussion at India Week earlier in the year, and I saw you have a very rich and varied experience, also of geographies, not just industries.

Could you share your experiences from childhood, school, college, family of what has probably shaped the person you are today?

Sakshi: I think that's such a big question. But it's a lovely question because it actually takes you back and helps you recap your life. And helps you be grateful for those who've had a good influence on you and be grateful for those who challenged you because it's the combination of the two that kind of makes you and defines your life story.

I grew up in Delhi, family of five, there's three of us kids, I'm the eldest. Both my parents were very hardworking. So I feel like that hardworking element in me comes from just growing up in a family like that. I studied biotech. First job was at Pfizer, and I've always found the world of science and healthcare, life sciences, interesting. I've been always very excited about new technologies but always had a business brain. When I was in Pfizer, I kind of kept stepping outside of the box of my full time job and just kept studying the sort of commercials of things, even though it wasn't really necessary.

That's when I realized that, maybe it's time for me to combine my scientific knowledge or degrees with a business degree. That took me to Wharton and for the first time lived in the U. S. East Coast for a couple of years learned a lot from that experience. I'd had the exposure studying in India, studying in the UK and this time I was studying in the US. India and UK have a very similar education culture, I would say, and US is completely different. It's a really good complement, to, the English and the Indian style. I feel that that was a life turning moment for me. One of the many life turning moments, because I think the way you tell a story, America really teaches you that, whereas I don't think England and India teach you that necessarily. I think England is a very sort of humble way of storytelling and so it's not the most effective in my opinion, whereas I think the American way of storytelling is super effective.

And, had a really great time at Wharton. The first six months were very challenging, just given the different cultures. But, made amazing friends, my best friends for the rest of my life, still from Wharton. Overall had a great experience and it was important. I realised that I love technology, and I wanted to get into that.

And so moved back to England into the world of investments, because I felt that it gave you the biggest exposure into new entrepreneurial energies and technologies that are trying to disrupt and build the future of tomorrow. Started out with early stage investing. Invested in the likes of Deliveroo, Dark Trace, Babylon, that kind of stuff. These are all big companies now, and then got recruited by SoftBank, and that took me to Silicon Valley. So lived there for a couple of years, which was the West coast. It's a whole different world compared to the East coast and compared to my other experiences in life. It's a whole crazy bubble of technology, lifestyle, and it's just a completely different world. And that was amazing. Again, one of the life turning moments, I would say. And there I really got to hone in on life sciences and technology. I was at Softbank for six years, first couple of years in California, and then in London, I would say majority of that time kind of went into this life sciences, food sciences, future technologies, obviously did other stuff as well, logistics and this and that.

But I really enjoyed, looking at every single innovative technology that's touching healthcare and food from different angles. And it was during this journey, I was married, I was now pregnant. Unfortunately, I had developed a liver breakdown, during my first pregnancy, it's quite rare and the doctor said nothing can be done. And if it wasn't done properly, it could have resulted in a stillbirth. And it's the doctor's call, but if they take out the baby too early, then you have to deal with premature related side effects. Right? So, there was a lot of back and forth and different opinions and a lot of stress, let's just put it that way. I just didn't take no for an answer. I started looking at clinical research because that's what I do best. And I changed my nutrition, food along with other things, I mean, there was a lot of other stuff as well, but I managed to reverse it, control it all together, which like never happens.

Even the doctors were quite surprised. And so that's how the journey of FoodHak started. And even when I was at Softbank, to be honest, I was finding this more and more that, when you look at a disease, by the time you get a disease, it's often too late, right? And we don't die of age, we die of disease, which is very unfortunate. I believe that in the future, we will manage to die of age and not disease. What does that mean? That means like you and me we're gonna age, we'll be 120, and one fine day we pass away. We're not gonna be withering away with chronic disease, slowly dying a bad life. Do you know what I mean?

And the problem is that doctors don't study nutrition. To solve chronic disease, which is what we die off, chronic disease is all lifestyle. 80 percent of your lifestyle is food, but like I said, doctors don't study nutrition. Someone has to break this cycle. Someone has to bring intelligence to food. And today we live in the world of AI. We can easily use technology to our advantage, bring it to your fingertips on the go in the form of an app.

That's what we're doing at FoodHak. Build food products intelligently by swapping out the bad stuff, putting in the good stuff. You're actually surrounded with a better choice for the first time. And this way you kind of create an ecosystem of health and wellness which enables you to age and not get diseased. You know what I mean? It helps you live a good life, but also good health span. That's what Foodhak is all about. It obviously started from my own journey it was a personal passion, and I just thought the whole world also deserves this because there are other women who are probably suffering or other men who are suffering, but they don't come from a life sciences background. They probably, can't do what I can do. this was my calling.

Sudha: You've answered my second question about Foodhak and how it came about,

I was going to ask you whether there was an ‘aha’ moment when you decided, that okay, it's time to jump ship. The work that you did before that, that is a well-paid, well recognized, profession. Taking that leap of faith, becoming an entrepreneur, that clearly was accelerated because of your own situation.

Sakshi: Yeah, I mean I get asked this question quite often because you're right, like the job I was in I was an investor at the world's biggest fund, SoftBank. The most exciting place to be. It was a very well-paid job.

I had a great reputation and a great track record, had a lot of autonomy because I was doing life sciences, which was something that not anyone else in the fund could do, because it requires a lot of training, specific kind of training. And so, to leave such a comfortable spot and jump into entrepreneurship, which is basically, forever being uncomfortable, because it's dynamic, fast changing, challenging, oftentimes lonely. It's really satisfying when you find a passion and you turn it into business, which also has a ‘better for you’ element, where you feel that you are doing something good for the world, for the planet, for the people. I think that for me, luckily, I have that trio, where I can see the business it's in the biggest trend in the world for the last, five years has been health and wellness.

And I think it's only going to continue. I'm passionate about it through my own story and I feel like I'm doing something good. I think that's what really helped me take that leap and that's what really drives me every day today as well.

Sudha: Is the name Foodhak significant? And you've spoken about business purpose, you've spoken about your passion., So was purpose and passion an important consideration for you when you were starting off?

Sakshi: I think so. To be fair, like when I was starting off, the most important thing for me was that there is a gap in this market.

And I had been looking at trends, across life sciences and food sciences for five years now. I'd seen everything from gut microbiome to blood testing, to DNA testing, from technologies in Israel, to, West coast, to UK, to India. I'd seen it all. Right? And I think when you're in that position, you can almost look into the future and be like, I know this is it, like there is a gap, I know we're moving in this direction, and I was right. After I'd started Foodhak, like I'd heard, there were other food as medicine companies. So, I think that was the biggest thing for me where there's definitely a market.

And, when I was at SoftBank, I tried out the product, as a side hustle, I would spend evenings and weekends cause I was so passionate about it. I did a lot of testing as well, prior to jumping into this full time. And I learned a lot about the product, the packaging, the distribution, the delivery, the logistics, the challenges. I spoke to a lot of customers, my early adopters to understand if is this a small niche or is this a massive niche, so that also gave me a lot of comfort. But I do think the purpose and passion, I'm sure, it's the secret sauce that really drives you because it's really challenging to be a founder. The only thing that kind of keeps you going on a day-to-day basis, is the passion.

Sudha: Yeah. In your previous, avatars you have Sakshi, worked in an aggressive, male dominated industry. Did your experiences sort of prepare you for this journey? Like you say, challenges are the norm, discomfort is something that you need to face all the time and be prepared for every single day. How has that contributed to this journey that you have been on?

Sakshi: I think you've nailed it. It a hundred percent has. To be a founder, sole founder, female founder in a male dominated industry, world, whatever you want to call it, you need to have a training of a warrior. Which means you need the stamina, which means you need the thick skin. I don't want to use the word aggression because it's viewed negatively when it comes to women, but you need that passion and assertiveness to make a point when you know you're right. And I think you learn all that when you are put in this discomfort, where you are the minority, where you are the different voice on the table. And you have to make your voice heard.

And you learn that in a male dominated work environment. So I'm quite grateful for it to be fair. Like when I was at SoftBank, did I ever feel like I was disadvantaged? Maybe sometimes, like when it came to times of promotion and titles. But like most of the time I felt that when you're working on a deal we're all presenting our smartest analytics, we're all trying our best to analyse and predict, is this going to be a good multiple of investment, like there's a lot of math, there's a lot of diligence, there's a lot of hard work, sincerity and I feel like we're all doing that and presenting our best. I would say that I honestly look back at my time at SoftBank and really enjoyed it. That was also one of the changing moments, like we touched upon previously.

Sudha: What are the upsides to starting your own business and the downsides, of course, especially as a woman led founder?

Sakshi: That's a great question. I mean, the upside hopefully will be that your passion and purpose turns into a big business that's globally recognised and people are benefiting from it. People are thankful that your product exists on the shelves, where they can now have a better pantry, when you open your cupboard for snacks and your kids, they are surrounded with a better choice. And more and more kids are suffering from obesity. And if you feel that you've played a part in helping resolve that in the future, these are all parts of the upside, right? But I would say like the upside takes a while, whereas these early years, most of the time, there are just challenges in the hope that one day you will see the upsides, right? And you believe you will. I believe I can. I believe I know I'm going to do it.

But it's just these initial years, there's a lot of day-to-day challenges. There's challenges in team building, there's challenges in being a female founder, and having a team. And I think just generally females are more empathetic and we like to hear other people's voices around the table because that's just how we are genetically. But then the challenge is when you heard other voices, and you still want to put your voice forward, right? There's challenges around that, there's challenges around building a team for the long term. There's challenges around raising money, because people have biases in their minds.

Sudha: I hear these all the time. Absolutely. And how important would you say Sakshi are networks, mentors, collaborators, and support systems when starting a business? Congratulations on the collaboration with Deepak Chopra. That's huge.

Sakshi: Yeah, it's huge, I think if you build an authentic business with a real purpose, I think these kind of like big collaborations happen and I do believe in energies and the universe's way of us being connected. Trust in the universe, putting out your positive best self and good stuff will come back to you. I do think network mentors, I would say for me, these are the most important things, and to build a network, you have to be out there telling your story, out there meeting people. And that's not easy, actually. People think it's, oh, you're out partying. It's not a party. It's quite the opposite, because you've just worked all day, you've now gone out at night and you're working, you're `selling the story, And that's how you build networks and relationships and collaborators.

And I think they're very important in my opinion, probably the most. I think above that would be the strength in your product. I've always believed in building an amazing, technically superior product, because I think once your product is strong, like for me in the food space, it has to taste amazing.

And of course it has all the scientific health benefits. Once I've cracked that, I would say it's all about, where can you get it? And how do you do that? It's through your network. So, it's extremely important.

Sudha: Absolutely. I mean, I think women often struggle to make that time, to build networks. And people don't realize that it's a slog, it's just a slog. So, as a business, how are you using technology, including AI to create an advantage, if at all, if you're using AI?

Sakshi: Yeah, so when I started, the biggest problem was that the clinical research on food is very noisy. It's a very biased data set because the large trillion-dollar food companies that are poisoning us today, they tend to bias this data by funding research or whatever. And that's very hard for like a average human to like pick-up a clinical research and understand which one's a good piece of research or a bad piece, right? Which is why there's a lot of confusion in the food market, a lot of fads and trends that come and go because, no human brain can keep up, with...