A high school dropout reveals how he built a $200M brand
Executive Summary
My First Million episode 859, where host Shaan Puri interviews Danny Yeung about building the supplement brand IM8 to what he says is a 200 million dollar run rate in 18 months. Yeung recounts a telemarketing start at 15, a restaurant, a hotel furniture import business, a Hong Kong group-buying company that Groupon part-acquired, the DNA and COVID testing company Prenetics, its NASDAQ listing and 95 percent revenue drop, and the launch of IM8. Sponsor: the description links HubSpot, with IM8 as the guest's own brand. PARTIAL COVERAGE: this note is based on the opening, the full career story up to the COVID crash, and the description, and does not cover the IM8 growth tactics, events, or the AI section in detail of the roughly 52 minute episode. All figures and product claims are the speakers' own and are not independently checked. Nothing here is medical or financial advice.
Key Takeaways
The headline claim
He opens by saying IM8 hit a 100 million annual revenue run rate at 11 months and 200 million in 18 months.
Early hustle
He says he started at 15 as a telemarketer, ran a restaurant at 24 and then imported hotel furniture from China.
Hong Kong e-commerce
He says he moved to Hong Kong in 2010 to launch group buying, that Groupon bought 51 percent, and that he left in 2014 after a good exit.
The unobvious bet
He says his career choices were never the obvious ones, and people told him to go back to the US when he launched in Hong Kong.
COVID boom
He says Prenetics built a COVID test in two weeks, reached 40,000 PCR tests a day and about 700 million dollars in revenue over three years.
The crash
He says the company listed on NASDAQ in 2022, then revenue fell about 95 percent and the market cap dropped from over a billion to about 50 million.
Deciding what next
He says he considered closing the company and returning capital but still wanted to create something, which led to IM8.
The Conversation Breakdown
The headline claim
⏱ Untimed topicHe opens by saying IM8 hit a 100 million annual revenue run rate at 11 months and 200 million in 18 months.
Early hustle
⏱ Untimed topicHe says he started at 15 as a telemarketer, ran a restaurant at 24 and then imported hotel furniture from China.
Hong Kong e-commerce
⏱ Untimed topicHe says he moved to Hong Kong in 2010 to launch group buying, that Groupon bought 51 percent, and that he left in 2014 after a good exit.
The unobvious bet
⏱ Untimed topicHe says his career choices were never the obvious ones, and people told him to go back to the US when he launched in Hong Kong.
COVID boom
⏱ Untimed topicHe says Prenetics built a COVID test in two weeks, reached 40,000 PCR tests a day and about 700 million dollars in revenue over three years.
The crash
⏱ Untimed topicHe says the company listed on NASDAQ in 2022, then revenue fell about 95 percent and the market cap dropped from over a billion to about 50 million.
Deciding what next
⏱ Untimed topicHe says he considered closing the company and returning capital but still wanted to create something, which led to IM8.
Core Frameworks & Ideas
Unobvious bet - Yeung's pattern
Choose markets other people dismiss early, then build before they notice.
Fair-weather friends - his lesson
Expect support to shrink when results drop and keep building anyway.
Close or rebuild - his choice point
When a business collapses, weigh returning capital against building something new.
Actionable Next Steps
- ✓List one market people are dismissing today and test a small experiment in it.
- ✓Write down who you would still call if your numbers fell 95 percent.
- ✓Decide in advance what would make you close a venture versus rebuild.
- ✓Treat the revenue and valuation figures as the speakers' claims and verify them before repeating them.
Notable Quotes
“We hit a 100 million annual revenue run rate at 11 months.”
“Everyone in fact told me to go back to US.”
“we were like printing money”
The One Thing to Remember
Danny Yeung says an unobvious path, a COVID boom and a 95 percent revenue collapse led him to build IM8, which he says reached a 100 million dollar run rate in 11 months.