🦥 #18 Metis Supplements: A Brand Born from a Pharmacist’s Experiments

Today

• ✋ Antwerpreneur: Maxim Christiaen - Co-Founder and CEO of Metis Supplements

• 🧃 Giggle Juice: by @MRLOVENSTEIN

• 💎 Quiz Question: How many years of oour life do we spend sleeping?

✋ Antwerpreneur: Maxim Christiaen

Before Metis was a sleep brand, it was a pharmacist’s hobby project.

Dirk was a father and pharmacist. He saw his own kids struggle through exam periods. Stressed out, sleeping badly, barely keeping it together.

He also knew something most people didn’t: the science behind supplements was moving fast. But the market was still stuck selling generic multivitamins.

So he did what any pharmacist-dad would do.

He started mixing his own formulas.

The kids were skeptical at first, but the results were hard to argue with. Their sleep improved. Stress became manageable. Concentration came back.

It worked.

Word spread. Soon Dirk was mixing batches for his pharmacy customers. 

Then on a family vacation, the idea for a real business was born.

The Family Business That Almost Wasn’t

Everyone in the family took on a role.

Dirk handled the business and the R&D.
His daughter took care of communications.
And Maxim, who was still studying at that time, helped with marketing.

What they didn’t have?

Experience in fast-moving consumer goods.

“We made a lot of mistakes, we didn’t even have a product yet, and we already paid a branding agency €30,000,” he says.

They assumed that a good product would sell itself.

For a while, Metis struggled along. Money went into product development, but almost nothing went into understanding their end-customer or marketing.

By 2021, the company was bleeding cash.

That’s when Dirk turned to his son, Maxim, and let him take over the company.

The Takeover That Changed Everything

Maxim took over the company and brought in Peter Michiels, his co-founder. The two had worked together before, and they knew one thing for sure:

What Metis was doing wasn’t working.

So when they officially stepped in, they made two bold moves:

1. They cut out the sales reps.
   

2. They went all-in on D2C (direct-to-consumer) and marketing.

Sales dropped at first.

But something else happened that changed everything.

For the first time, they heard their end-customer.

Real feedback. Real pain points. Real data.

"We ramped up marketing quite heavily," Maxim says. "And suddenly we understood what people actually wanted."

The Pivot to Sleep

Metis originally offered a wide range of supplements.

But that was part of the problem.

“It was too broad. Customers didn’t understand what we were really about.”

After analyzing the feedback, one thing stood out: Sleep.

“In Belgium, one in three adults has sleep issues. And two-thirds of those are caused by stress.”

This became their focus.

Their star product became simple and focused: valerian root, escholtzia, melatonin, and vitamin B6.

Natural. Non-addictive. And effective when taken 30 minutes before bed.

From Guessing to Testing

Before going D2C, they had zero insight into what messaging worked.

So they ran an experiment.

Twenty different ads. Same image. Different headlines.

"We were thinking, okay, what do we need to communicate?" Maxim recalls. "It was a lot of work, but it really gave us insight to see what people liked."

That single test helped define their brand voice, understand their best-performing angles, and avoid wasting money on guesswork.

They started to build from there.

Science, Not Hype

Metis isn’t one of those brands that jumps on wellness trends.

Every new product or improvement starts with customer feedback.

Pharmacist Dirk still leads R&D, working closely with another pharmacist and a KU Leuven professor.

Together, they dive deep into the research and develop formulations based in real science.

Then comes reality: Can a contract manufacturer actually make it? Will it fit in a capsule? Is it affordable?

They test in small batches. Get fast feedback. Iterate.

The Refill Pouch That Changed Everything

One of their biggest wins came from reusing their custom-made glass jars.

Metis wanted to reduce waste and make reordering easier, so they launched a refill pouch.

Cheaper. Recyclable. And thin enough to fit through a letterbox.

That one innovation solved three problems at once:

• Commercial: Easier shipping, more repeat orders
  

• Environmental: Less waste, sustainable materials
  

• Emotional: Customers felt good about the brand

Survival Mode

Twice, Metis came close to shutting down.

"When you don't have the money backing, and you're loss making, and you haven't figured out the traction channel yet, a lot of testing means a lot of money going out, not as much coming in."

They didn't pay themselves for over a year. The pressure was crushing.

What saved them? Two small angel investment rounds. Just enough breathing room to figure out their D2C strategy.

But the experience left its mark. "Startups are hard and not nice to do," Maxim reflects. "I would never go from zero to one again. I'd just buy an SME and scale it."

A Million-Euro Brand with a Lean Team

Today, Metis is profitable.

They made €92K in EBITDA last year. On track for seven figures in sales. 

"It's very important for us to prove that you can build a million euros in revenue with two guys," Maxim says. "There's not much VC money left for us, since a lot of that money is currently going into AI. We need to be profitable."

They're hiring carefully. One supply chain role and a couple of sales reps, but the philosophy remains: lean operations, deep focus, clear mission.

Reinventing B2B (Again)

After going D2C, they thought they were done with pharmacies.

But something surprising happened.

Pharmacies started reaching out.

So Metis flipped the script and launched a new “partner program” to work closely with them.

They started to ask questions: What’s your challenge? What do you need?

Then they built campaigns together: co-marketing, flash sales, custom activations.

"We give them the same weapons as their competitors," Maxim explains. "They feel connected to us in a way they don't with other brands."

The Future of Sleep and Beyond

Most of their customers today are 40+.

But Maxim sees a bigger opportunity emerging: the enhancement market.

Athletes and high-performers who don’t just want to fix sleep.

They want to optimize recovery, enhance performance, and unlock competitive advantages.

The market is there. And Metis might just be the brand to own it.

The Five-Year Plan

They’re raising a new round of funding.

They want to grow the team. Scale the marketing. Build infrastructure.

But the goal is to become the number one sleep brand in Europe.

And Maxim's ultimate goal? “I want to retire in five years.”

Build something great, build it profitably, then step away. Sometimes the best exit strategy is actually having one.

Lessons for the Next Generation

Here’s what Maxim said:

• Test small. Don’t dump €30K into something you haven’t validated.
  

• Talk to your customers. It’s underrated.
  

• Use Shopify and Klaviyo. They’re the best stack to start with.
  

• Marketing costs money. When you open your “online store,” there are zero visitors. You have to pay to get them in.

The Real Measure of Success

Revenue matters. Profitability matters. Market position matters.

But for Maxim, success has a simpler definition: "Making a nice company that I like to work in."

Financially stable. Purpose-driven. Sustainable pace.

Maxim’s Recommendations

• Person: Alex Hormozi

• Book: $100M Leads, $100M Sales and The Money Machine, all by Alex Hormozi

• Current song on repeat: No favorite song but likes to listen to “Discovery weekly”

• Favorite place in Antwerp: Stroll around the Kaaien, Café Kamiel and Patine

Antwerpreneur-to-Antwerpreneur Q&A

Question: Sometimes success comes from a mix of hard work and luck but not everyone gets the timing right or has luck. What was the biggest unlock that allowed you to scale? Was it something you actively made happen or do you feel it was timing, luck, or something external?

Maxim’s answer: “I’d say the biggest unlock was getting the right support at the right time. The most important support I had was from my girlfriend. Taking risks is part of building something, but you can’t really take those risks unless you have someone who’s got your back. We were also lucky to get help from a few great advisors. But I’d say that part was self-initiated, we reached out and we were lucky that they responded and were willing to help. Another unlock was how the startup scene is super supportive. Founders really want to help each other and that’s given us the confidence and knowledge to scale.”

Where can you find Maxim and where can you try a trial package?

You can find him on LinkedIn and try it here!

🧃 Giggle Juice

🥴 

💎 Quiz Question

If you reach 79 years of age, how many years of your life would you spend sleeping?

A) 16 years

B) 26 years

C) 6 years

D) 36 years

_{You can find the answer at the end}