IM8 CEO on building the 'world's fastest-growing supplements brand' backed by David Beckham

December 29, 2025

AI Summary

5 min read

Danny Young, the co-founder and CEO of Prenetics, did not set out to build a supplements brand. The company he founded in 2014 was a science-driven genomics and diagnostics firm that went public on the Nasdaq in 2022 at a billion-dollar valuation, largely fueled by a pandemic-era pivot into COVID-19 PCR testing that generated $800 million in revenue over three years. When the pandemic ended, Young dismantled 90 percent of his workforce within weeks. What emerged from the ashes was IM8, a direct-to-consumer supplement brand co-founded with David Beckham that hit $100 million in annualized recurring revenue in under 11 months — a pace Young claims is the fastest in the supplement industry. The conversation with Michelle Toh covers how Young thinks about risk, timing, trust, and when to go all in.

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What you'll learn

1 (03:00) **Origin Story: From Baseball Cards to Telemarketing** - Danny Young describes his early life: immigrating from China to the US at age five, working at a baseball card shop at 12, and becoming a telemarketer at 15.
2 (08:04) **First Venture: Bringing Hoi Lau Shan to the US** - Danny explains how his first major entrepreneurial move was cold-calling the iconic Hong Kong dessert chain and teaching himself to write a business plan.
3 (10:05) **The Groupon Pivot: Moving to Hong Kong on a Whim** - Danny recounts discovering Groupon, moving to Hong Kong in three months with no local ties, and launching a competing platform to become the market leader.
4 (13:58) **Founding Pernetics: From Coupons to DNA Testing** - Danny explains why he jumped from selling coupons to the complex world of genetics, driven by a personal interest in health and a belief in prevention.
5 (16:21) **Early Scaling Challenges: Why B2B Came Before DTC** - Danny reveals that the initial plan to sell DNA tests directly to consumers failed, forcing a strategic pivot to working with insurance companies.
6 (19:01) **The COVID-19 Pivot: Scaling from 200 to 40,000 Tests Per Day** - Danny describes the accidental pivot into COVID-19 testing, which turned a $10 million revenue business into an $800 million business over three years.
7 (25:49) **The Tough Decision: Dismantling the COVID Business** - Danny explains the difficult but necessary decision to lay off 90% of the workforce as the pandemic ended.

+ Full timestamped outline available in the app

Guests on this episode

Michelle Toh

Show Notes

Danny Yeung's entrepreneurial path has been anything but linear.

He's the co-founder and CEO of Prenetics, Hong Kong's first unicorn to list on the Nasdaq, and the leader of IM8, which bills itself as the world's fastest-growing supplements brand.

Prenetics, a breakout name in consumer health, is the parent company of IM8, which has already attracted global stars like co-founder David Beckham and ambassador Aryna Sabalenka, who are also investors.

But the man behind all of that is Danny, a serial founder who first got on the road to entrepreneurship by bringing iconic Hong Kong dessert chain Hui Lau Shan to the US — and has since worked on everything, from venture capital to Covid and DNA testing to health supplements to a new, bold bet on bitcoin.

In this conversation, we get into: | 00:00:00 — Introduction | 00:01:47 — Danny's upbringing and how it shaped his ambitions early on | 00:06:47 — The entrepreneurial itch - Cold-calling Hui Lau Shan to enter the US | 00:08:48 — Moving to Hong Kong and building a business that was later sold to Groupon | 00:12:52 — Venturing into genetics testing with Prenetics | 00:17:45 — Covid testing + rapid scaling during the pandemic: 'We went from $10M to $250M in revenue' | 00:22:05 — Peaks and valleys - listing on the Nasdaq as Hong Kong's first unicorn and mass layoffs post-Covid | 00:24:45 — A $200M joint venture focused on cancer detection — and Tencent collaboration | 00:28:08 — Company performance and response to pressure on market cap | 00:31:15 — Meeting David Beckham for dinner and hatching the idea for IM8 | 00:34:11 — IM8's path as one of the fastest-growing supplement brands on track to a $100M ARR | 00:37:00 — Growth drivers and early success | 00:40:29 — Teaming up with tennis No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka | 00:42:02 — How to land big-name ambassadors for your business | 00:42:21 — Betting on crypto: The company's bitcoin treasury strategy | 00:46:53 — 'Future of health and wealth' | 00:52:40 — Company roadmap | 00:55:24 — Advice to his younger self | 00:56:00 — 'My last company' - Danny's end game and fending off early acquisition requests | 00:58:29 — Audience question | 01:00:10 — Rapid-fire round Full disclosure: Prenetics is a partner of Behind the Business, and this is a branded conversation. We're grateful for their support this season.

| About Behind the Business:

Behind the Business is a video series and podcast hosted by Michelle Toh, CNN and Fortune alum, that explores the decisions and philosophies behind today's most influential leaders. Recorded in person across the US, the show is grounded in the belief that business is in fact personal, providing the backstories of founders, corporate leaders, investors and creators and how they push through to make the most of both work and life each day. What's the worst day you've faced at your company? How do you cope with crisis or rejection? Or what's a pinch-me moment you'll never forget? In each episod