Alumni Back Student Entrepreneur’s Bold Vision for Human Health

Student entrepreneur Adam Shatz ’27 was not nervous for his pitch to a panel of alumni investors at an investment competition on May 4. He prepared for the event and treated it like a performance—it was his job to tell the story of his company, Milieu.

“At the end of the day, this is a performance,” said Shatz, an economics and film studies double major. “Whether you're on a film set as an actor, you're on stage for theater performance, or pitching to a panel of investors, it's your job to put on the show and make them feel and buy in, so I really embraced that. I love to perform. I love to tell stories.”

His story landed, as two alumni invested a total of $15,000 into Milieu after his pitch. Technology executives Peter Frank ’12 and Susan Paley ’89 decided to support Milieu at the event—Frank invested $10,000 and Paley invested $5,000. The pitching event was a culmination of a student-led startup incubator course, CSPL420-02: Wesleyan Shark Tank: The Art of the Pitch, which teaches student founders how to scale and pitch their new ventures to potential investors.

“I think the best part of this whole experience is the opportunity to really connect with alumni and build this mentorship,” Shatz said. ​​“Ever since the event, Peter and Susan have been super helpful in guiding me.”

Frank said he invested in Milieu because he was impressed by the scale of their vision. “They are operating in a large market with growing tailwinds like advancements in AI and increasing emphasis on personalized health and have a differentiated offering to reach their initial market,” he said. “I've enjoyed working with Adam, and I hope that I've been able to be useful in helping talk through personal and professional priorities as he continues his time at Wesleyan and the company continues to evolve.”

Business Idea

Shatz ​​is building Milieu with his older brother, Nathan, and two other partners. Milieu is a skincare brand that analyzes a customer’s skin microbiome—a collection of microorganisms that are routinely found on a person’s skin—​​then sends them in-house formulated products to balance and restore their microbiome.

“Our state of living today is more inorganic than it has ever been throughout the course of history, and ultimately, what that means for our bodies, our microbiomes, is we are living in a state of dysbiosis, of imbalance,” Shatz said. “…Our mission as a company is to solve that imbalance, restore the microbiome, harness the power of the human microbiome, and as a result of that, ​​unlock new possibilities for human health and longevity.”

Milieu provides customers with a comprehensive skin health report and skin health score. To do this, they collect customer surveys, face scans using an artificial intelligence software, ​​and lab analysis of customer skin swabs. ​​Customers can track their skin’s progress over time by taking additional facial scans in Milieu’s app, as well, Shatz said.

Before the pitch event, the venture has been in its private pilot phase, working with a selected group of customers before its larger market release this fall. During their next phase, Shatz said the company will use money raised through investments like Frank's and Paley’s to make a few key infrastructural changes. This will include working with a leading microbiologist to build out a new line of microbiome friendly skincare products, new personnel hires, and a sizable marketing push, he said.

Applying Learning to Shatz’s Venture

Shatz said his studies at Wesleyan have helped prepare him for the work he has done for Milieu. To prepare for their launch, Shatz, ​​who works in marketing and media production, is spending the summer in Ann Arbor, Michigan to conduct market research, host pop-up events, and create video content. He said his coursework in economics made it easier to learn to do market research, work with customer feedback, and build his skills with artificial intelligence.

This summer, he is creating a short documentary video chronicling his experience as a young entrepreneur working on a start-up. For the short film, he took inspiration from his FILM309: Film Noir class at Wesleyan where he learned about techniques used in noir film to draw the audience’s attention, like voiceovers and flashbacks. “As I'm constructing this, I'm thinking about how I can really capture and retain the attention of the viewer for this eight-minute span. You have to get them to buy in emotionally,” he said.

Alongside his economics and film work, Shatz is part of a burgeoning ecosystem of young entrepreneurs at Wesleyan. He called the Patricelli Center for Entrepreneurship his home in the Spring semester and the center has been an integral part of his journey with Milieu.

​​​“The Patricelli Center has really made this process much more enjoyable,” Shatz said. “I’m surrounded by like-minded people who are ventures too: people I can bounce ideas off of, share a couple laughs with, and learn from as we continue to grow and improve every day.”

Shatz wants to make an impact on the world and he feels his work with Milieu is a pathway for him to do so.

“I want to help people,” Shatz said. “I want to leave an impact, a unique Adam-sized fingerprint on the world in a way that takes us one step closer to the happiest, healthiest versions of ourselves.”