Urska Srsen Speaks at Y Combinator Female Founder Conference 2016

Company & Leadership Profile

• Urška Mihajlović is the co-founder and CEO of Bellabeat, a Slovenian woman-centric health technology company.
• Bellabeat operates with over 60 employees and maintains offices in Zagreb (Croatia), London, San Francisco, and Dongguan (China).
• Mihajlović is a non-technical founder (former sculpture student) who founded the company at age 23 without a business degree or coding background.

Founding History & Product Evolution

• The company originated from a personal need to maintain a relationship with co-founder and fiancé, Sandro Mihajlović, after relocating from Helsinki to Zagreb following failed initial projects.
• The founders entered the health sector serendipitously, combining Mihajlović's interest in design with her mother's background as an OBGYN and Sandro's technical skills.
• The first product was a hardware and software system allowing expectant mothers to listen to fetal heartbeats and share the data with loved ones.
• Initial user feedback revealed that women were often overlooked by existing technology, establishing the core company mission to design accessible, beautiful health tracking tools for women.
• Bellabeat has shipped 350,000 physical hardware units and achieved profitability.

Geographic Challenges & Strategic Relocation

• Early European operations were hampered by a fragmented market, bureaucratic hurdles, and a lack of capital and experienced investors compared to Silicon Valley.
• Recognizing these structural barriers, Bellabeat joined the Y Combinator Winter 2014 batch to access capital, talent, and mentorship networks unavailable in Europe.
• The relocation to Mountain View was initially marked by "imposter syndrome" among the European founding team, characterized by a fear of not belonging and gaps in basic business norms.
• The "underdog mentality" developed during this transition became a defining cultural trait, emphasizing observation and adaptability over raw intellect.

Operational Philosophy & Team Dynamics

• Mihajlović defines "commitment" as prioritizing the company's interests over personal comfort, necessitating difficult actions like firing employees or relocating operations.
• The company views rapid scaling like a "rocket launch," acknowledging that team attrition is a natural byproduct of high-growth phases.
• A specific "war story" highlighted the extreme demands of hardware manufacturing, where a founder must physically reside on the factory floor to ship products successfully.
• Bellabeat established a production base in Dongguan, China, to manage logistics, a necessity the founders concluded could not be managed remotely from the US or Europe.

Product Strategy & Vision

• The company's vision is to revolutionize preventive care for women, a goal that guides product development and team alignment.
• The "Leaf" product, launched in October, was prototyped initially using low-cost materials like clay and Play-Doh before finalizing manufacturing.
• Leaf is designed as modular jewelry (bracelet, necklace, or clip) that tracks activity, sleep, menstrual cycles, and manages stress via breathing exercises.
• Mihajlović emphasizes that a clear vision serves as a decision-making framework during periods of uncertainty and operational stress.