Hardware Podcasts

Bobbi Brown Cosmetics: Bobbi Brown

How I Built This · 17 Sept 2018 · 51m

What this episode covers

Bobbi Brown, founder of Bobbi Brown Cosmetics, explains how she launched a billion-dollar brand by introducing 'nude makeup' in the 1980s, starting with a custom lipstick created with a local chemist and sold through Bergdorf Goodman. She details the decision to sell the company to Estée Lauder in 1995 for financial security and creative freedom, and her subsequent 22-year tenure where she struggled with corporate bureaucracy before leaving in 2016. The episode also covers the postscript story of Emma Cohen and Miles Pepper, who founded Final Straw, a collapsible reusable straw company, after facing immediate knockoff competition from their successful Kickstarter campaign.

Most relevant to

companies scaling up, large enterprises and founders before launch

Topics

Mentioned

Companies
Bobbi Brown Cosmetics, Estée Lauder, Bergdorf Goodman, Neiman Marcus, Evolution 18, The George, Just Bobby, Keels Pharmacy, Glamour Magazine, American Vogue, Today Show, U.S. Bank, Emerson, Laura Mercier
Products
Final Straw

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