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“Those people were not a good fit,” she says.
Photographed by The Vorhees
“They didn’t understand the emotional nature of makeup.”
But its a challenge she met, not only convincing consumers but also eventually bringing in outside funding.
They left her looking chalky and feeling uncomfortable.
So Lundy created her own, using about $30,000 of savings.
Lundy credits the relationships she built there early on with helping her find an investor.
“We didn’t reinvent the wheel here,” Lundy says.
“However, we are speaking to an underserved community on sun safety.”
In 2018, she and Nick Axelrod, who cofounded beauty website Into the Gloss, launchedNecessaire.
(Axelrod left the brand last spring.)
“We like to say treat your body like your face.”
Her advice: Walk into a meeting with a clear idea of the market opportunity.
Another important piece for any brand is to find its community.
“You’re like, ‘Wait a minute.
My door is open.
Why are 20,000 people not walking in?'”
“You have to show that your idea has adoption and a community effect,” says Christiansen.
The duo started raising money slowly, first approaching friends and family, says Rutterford, 34.
“Then you just take everything you learn and you pour it into the pitch moving forward.”
But then Silicon Valley, where Dossa had roots, came calling.
Still, some investors didn’t always get the concept.
And more investment money followed.
He also makes the case for having confidence in yourself.
Rhyu made the decision to grow her brand slowly, and it was profitable early.
But having products in multiple national retailers means you have to be able to keep up with large orders.
If you might’t, it can “ruin brands,” says Rhyu.
So she needed to find a Goldilocks amount of funding.
Some potential investors were talking about amounts that made her uncomfortable.
“Big checks probably come with big expectations,” Rhyu explains.
Then COVID-19 hit, the Dow dropped, and all deals were off the table.
The brand finally struck a deal that worked for everyone involved in November.
Rhyu considers investors extensions of the founding team, helping her to navigate the future.
Her piece of advice?
Continue to be disciplined about how you spend an influx of money.
A version of this story originally appeared in the February 2021 issue of Allure.
