613: Why Most Beauty Brands Fail - and How to Beat The Rest | DIBS Beauty Founder
Timestamps are as accurate as they can be but may be slightly off. We encourage you to listen to the full context.
Podcast Summary
In this masterclass episode, Jeff Lee, co-founder of DIBS Beauty, reveals how he and influencer Courtney Shields scaled their color cosmetics brand from zero to mid-eight figures in just four years. (47:00) Jeff shares the exact strategy behind building a 20,000-person pre-launch waitlist, achieving a 60%+ 90-day repurchase rate, and successfully expanding into retail with partners like Ulta and Revolve. (23:26) The conversation covers everything from creator-led distribution strategies to the importance of extreme customer proximity, with Jeff literally taking customer service calls on his personal phone and observing shoppers in-store to understand buying behavior.
- Main Theme: Building a premium beauty brand in a saturated market through obsessive customer focus, creator partnerships, and disciplined community building rather than traditional paid advertising.
Speakers
Jeff Lee
Jeff Lee is the co-founder of DIBS Beauty, a color cosmetics brand that has grown to mid-eight figures in just four years since launching in 2021. A former corporate lawyer, Jeff also worked with Alex Rodriguez and Jennifer Lopez on beauty ventures before co-founding DIBS. He's recognized as one of the world's best professional beauty pageant coaches and has led DIBS to become the 11th fastest-growing consumer company in the Inc. 5000, ranking 219th overall.
Nathan Chan
Nathan Chan is the founder and CEO of Foundr, a leading entrepreneurship media company and education platform. He hosts the Foundr Podcast, interviewing successful entrepreneurs and business leaders to share actionable insights for aspiring founders and scaling businesses.
Key Takeaways
Master the Pre-Launch Social Strategy
Success in beauty requires building anticipation through strategic content that gives your audience enough to feel part of the journey while leaving them wanting more. (03:55) Jeff emphasizes that your social strategy must be "so on point" before any launch, whether DTC or retail. The key is understanding exactly how your content resonates with your specific demographic - DIBS focuses on upper millennial women who are heavily engaged on Instagram rather than TikTok. They measure success not by likes or shares, but by user-generated content inspired by their posts and how much original content others create based on what they put out.
Invest in Creator Relationships Over Paid Ads
DIBS sent approximately 500 gifted products to creators for their initial launch, focusing on trusted relationships rather than spray-and-pray advertising. (08:49) Jeff notes that "ads can actually be highly counterproductive, especially if you're doing spray to play." Instead, they invested heavily in creator gifting and education, ensuring that live people selling their products could convey messaging as effectively as approved ads. Personal relationships matter more than ever as creators are inundated with PR packages - having a genuine connection puts you "straight to the front of the line."
Maintain Extreme Customer Proximity
Even at mid-eight figures in revenue, Jeff still takes 12-20 customer service calls daily on his personal phone. (18:16) He emphasizes that founders must avoid three critical mistakes: thinking you are the customer, letting demographics you don't understand dictate what's cool, and using surveys as substitutes for substantive conversations. Jeff regularly visits stores to observe customers in their natural shopping environment, watching how they approach displays, what catches their eye, and whether they shop with family members - insights that directly inform product and marketing decisions.
Enter Retail Earlier Than You Think
Jeff believes that pure DTC-only strategies are becoming increasingly difficult in beauty, advising founders to "enter retail earlier in your cycle" than previous generations of brands. (15:34) For DIBS, retail expansion has been crucial because beauty products require customers to "see color and really feel it and experiment with it." The retail channel has "only added fuel to the fire for the overall company." However, success requires choosing the right retail partner that aligns with your customer base - DIBS chose Revolve because their fashion-focused, fast-delivery customers aligned perfectly with DIBS' influencer community.
Practice "Comfortable Inauthenticity" in Community Building
Jeff coined the term "comfortable inauthenticity" to describe the balance between genuine connection and brand professionalism. (29:58) He argues that true authenticity would mean "saying all of the crazy crap that comes into our head" which would turn people off. Instead, successful brands give "the slice of yourself that allows people to connect with you" without being completely unfiltered. This approach requires being judicious with your time and energy while ensuring every community touchpoint is meaningful and tracked systematically.
Statistics & Facts
- DIBS Beauty achieved a 60%+ repurchase rate within 90 days, a metric that has held steady even as of the most recent quarter. (16:36) This exceptional retention rate is achieved by sizing products to last exactly 90 days for the average user.
- The company was ranked as the 11th fastest-growing consumer company in the Inc. 5000, with an overall ranking of 219th across all industries. (14:45) They achieved 700% year-over-year growth at one point in their scaling journey.
- DIBS has celebrated selling over one million units of their hero product, the Desert Island Duo, demonstrating significant product-market fit in the competitive color cosmetics market. (13:36)
