Who this is
Dr. Vivien Karl is a pharmacist with a doctorate who grew up in Germany's Eifel region, where her mother runs her own pharmacy. During her PhD she advised many women on intimate health issues at the pharmacy and developed her own intimate cream against dryness in its compounding lab. The Dr. Vivien Karl brand launched in August/September 2022 together with her co-founder Julia, who runs marketing and branding and previously built the brand Womanizer. Today the company has nine products on the market, ten employees and 24 investors. On the side, Vivien competes in Hyrox and appears on home shopping TV as the brand's expert.
Episodes
Numbers from the episode
FAQ
What kind of brand is Dr. Vivien Karl?
Dr. Vivien Karl is a premium intimate care brand for women, founded by pharmacist Dr. Vivien Karl and her co-founder Julia. The bestseller is the intimate cream against dryness, and according to Vivien there are nine products on the market, including an intimate wash lotion, a cleansing foam and two lubricants. The products are made in Germany. To the episode →
How much capital has Dr. Vivien Karl raised?
According to Vivien, the company has raised 2.5 million euros in total from 24 investors, including one VC. The pre-seed round closed within three weeks: 800,000 euros were planned, and according to Vivien it ended up at roughly twice that. One of the first angels was Tina Müller. To the episode →
What is Dr. Vivien Karl's repurchase rate?
According to Vivien, 55 percent of customers buy again within twelve months, and the number is rising. She attributes this to a consumable product that solves a real pain point for an affluent target group. On top of that come direct mail, WhatsApp marketing and newsletters that encourage customers to use up their products. To the episode →
How do Vivien and Julia keep their co-founder relationship healthy?
Since the start, the two have gone to a moderated coaching session together every two weeks, where they can talk openly about everything. On top of that there are monthly managing-director dates, which are also about how each of them is doing, and dinners together. Vivien's observation: when one co-founder refuses to go to coaching, something is often wrong in the team. To the episode →
Quotes
„… im Prinzip möchte ich von denen Insights erfahren und das machen sehr viele, weil sie eben mal mit mir sprechen wollen.““Basically I want to get insights from them, and lots of them take part because they want to talk to me.”
„… dann A, sind dir diese 40 Euro Scheiß egal, sorry to say, und B, wechselst du das Produkt nicht mehr.““Then first, you don't give a damn about those 40 euros, sorry to say, and second, you never switch products again.”
„Umsatz pro Minute, das ist deine KPI.““Revenue per minute, that's your KPI.”
„… mein eigener Namen kann mir ja niemand wegnehmen, ich werde auf jeden Fall nicht da abgemahnt.““Nobody can take my own name away from me, and I definitely won't get a cease-and-desist over it.”
„Wenn dein Co-Founder, deine Co-Founderin nicht zum Coaching gehen will, guck doch da mal hin.““If your co-founder doesn't want to go to coaching, take a closer look at that.”