Meet Alex! Co-founder of Raise Nutrition, an e-commerce food startup selling a nootropics-based "Brain Bar" to improve people's cognitive skills and brain health. After attending a coding bootcamp together, Alex and his new friend Sam knew that they wanted to create a startup together. So they had this crazy idea to put their friendship to a stress test first and go backpacking in India together (silence retreat included!) in April 2020. Back in Berlin they got to work right away, mixing ingredients in the basement like Walter White in Breaking Bad to create the perfect "Brain Bar". Enjoy! 00:00 - Welcome & Ice Breaker & Intro Raise Nutrion 07:20 - The origin of the "Brain Bar" and initial consumer reactions 11:35 - How to ensure you choose the right co-founder? Go on a 1-month backpacking trip to India and do a silence retreat together. If you can still stand each other after that, you are good to go! 21:45 - The project was stopped late 2020. What happened between the summer and then? Was it a mutual decision between Alex and Sam? What were the main reasons behind the decision? What would you do differently next time? 31:40 - Creating his own blog (alexvacca.com) to share learnings, document his entrepreneurial journey and learn 38:00 - Alex's advice for aspiring founders Learn more about Alex and check out his blog at www.alexvacca.com, where you also find his contact details. Connect with him on LinkedIn www.linkedin.com/in/alex-vacca/ Learn more about WalkingTheTalk at walkingthetalk.io and connect with Melissa on LinkedIn www.linkedin.com/in/melissaoppermann You can contact me via the contact form at the bottom of my website. Looking forward to hearing from you!