Conference Presentation, Fireside Chat
Briogeo founder Twine says “internal resiliency” is entrepreneurs’ shared superpower
- The clean beauty trend is expected to evolve into an industry requirement ("table stakes") over the next three to five years, with brands needing to be "clean first" to survive and thrive.
- Sephora plans to revive its program next year, rebranding it as "Clean Plus Planet Positive" to emphasize sustainability, a move anticipated to accelerate momentum in the sector.
- The industry is expected to require greater intentionality regarding Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DE&I) to ensure internal workforces effectively reflect and address the needs of diverse populations.
- The content platform
nancytwine.comis planned for evolution to serve as a resource for others, leveraging the founder's experience to help aspiring entrepreneurs. - Future generations of entrepreneurs are projected to cite the founder's journey in ten years, as seeing representation is viewed as the catalyst for unlocking confidence in underrepresented founders.
- Resilience and grit are identified as critical success factors, with the expectation that challenges and setbacks are par for the course and that giving up too soon is a primary reason for business failure.
- The beauty industry is characterized as highly capital intensive due to inventory sitting in warehouses, and scaling through continuous fundraising is expected to lead to founder dilution.
- Strategic partnerships with companies possessing built-in resources are viewed as necessary to scale a business over a longer period compared to independent bootstrapping.
- Wella is noted as having a 140-year history and a core competency in hair care, creating an untapped opportunity within the "Salon Professional" segment for the acquired brand Briogeo.
- Room to Grow serves as a mission the founder dedicates time and financial resources to, addressing the limitations of time previously faced as an entrepreneur.
- The "playbook" for indie beauty brands has been established over the last decade, with modern resources and scaling capabilities now existing that were unavailable ten years ago when the clean beauty movement began as a "white space."
- Briogeo was launched in 2012 following a catalyst in 2010, starting with a small test run of a few hundred products from a generous manufacturer before introducing the brand at Cosmoprof in Las Vegas.
- The founder, who began their career in 2007, raised over $20 million in private equity funding in 2019 and became the youngest Black woman to launch a product line at Sephora before selling the company to Wella in 2022.
- The company spent several years bootstrapping before taking on private equity, and strategic M&A interest emerged three years after that funding round, occurring before the founder turned 40.
- The early development of the business involved working nights and weekends, hand-packing products, and formally presenting the brand in San Francisco after initial contact via LinkedIn.