How Function of Beauty Scaled Personalized Care

TL;DR

Function of Beauty scales personalized hair care by translating customer quiz responses into individual formulations and producing them through automated in-house manufacturing. Its expansion from online sales into Target and from hair care into skin care shows how a digitally native brand can add channels and categories while preserving customization, authenticity, and direct customer understanding.

Transcript

hello everyone welcome back thank you for joining us for evolving economy's next panel from online to offline where function of beauty meets their customers i'm robin lee investor at ggb capital and i'm so delighted to be here today with sahira dosa co-founder and executive chairman of function of beauty and alexandra papasian ceo of function of be... Read More

Key Insights

• Function of Beauty's founding vision is to replace standardized beauty products with formulations created for each individual customer, changing how beauty products are formulated, sold, and discussed rather than merely building a small personalized niche.
• Customization at scale depends on connecting customer inputs to formulation and manufacturing systems. The company created a hair quiz and an algorithm that translate individual preferences and needs into formulations that automated production equipment can make accurately.
• The founding team combined complementary capabilities. Zahir Dossa focused on the company vision, Josh brought the ability to create an automated production facility, and the third co-founder contributed extensive formulation chemistry experience gained while developing products at a large contract manufacturer.
• Function of Beauty's production capacity grew from fewer than 50 orders per day in its early period to thousands of products per day. Earlier in its development, its first facility could fulfill approximately 800 orders daily with no more than about 20 full-time employees.
• Function of Beauty's channel expansion includes an offline launch at Target at the beginning of 2021. This move extends a business built around online personalized hair care into physical retail while the company also begins expanding into skin care.
• A strong brand requires a clear identity and an authentic story. Alexandra Papazian was attracted to Function of Beauty because it was founder-led, had distinctive brand characteristics, and had accomplished customization at scale through unusual software, hardware, and industrial capabilities.
• Effective social media strategy begins with understanding the audience and identifying what resonates with it. Copying a competitor is ineffective because brand voice and execution need to reflect the company's own identity, beliefs, and relationship with its customers.
• The pandemic accelerated online shopping but also created operational difficulties. Function of Beauty benefited when more consumers engaged with its website, yet its in-house manufacturing model and international customer base exposed it to production challenges, delayed shipping, and other fulfillment pressures.

Questions & Answers

Q: How does Function of Beauty create personalized hair care at scale?

Function of Beauty gathers customer inputs through a hair quiz and uses an algorithm to connect those responses with a customized formulation. Automated production then makes an individual product accurately for each customer. This combination of formulation chemistry, software, and manufacturing automation allows personalization to operate beyond a small niche and reach thousands of products per day.

Q: What was the original vision for Function of Beauty?

The original vision was to challenge established consumer packaged goods companies with a different approach to beauty. Instead of selling the same standardized formulas to broad groups, Function of Beauty aimed to formulate, sell, and communicate products around individual needs. The company saw one-to-one customization as the foundation for a new model of beauty.

Q: Who contributed the core capabilities behind Function of Beauty?

The three founders brought complementary skills to the company. Zahir Dossa articulated the broader vision for personalized beauty. Josh, his friend from MIT, could build the automated production facility required to fulfill that promise. Their third co-founder had extensive formulation chemistry experience and helped create the algorithm, the original hair quiz, and the connection between customer inputs and formulations.

Q: How did Function of Beauty's manufacturing operations evolve?

The company began with its founders working from a modest location in Stamford, Connecticut, before converting a farm building in Catawissa, Pennsylvania. Early production was fewer than 50 orders daily, and a later facility could fulfill about 800 orders per day. By 2021, the company operated multiple United States manufacturing plants and produced thousands of products daily.

Q: Why did Function of Beauty expand from online sales into physical retail?

Physical retail provided a new channel through which Function of Beauty could meet customers beyond its established online business. The company launched at Target at the beginning of 2021 while remaining known as a major online personalized hair care company. The expansion demonstrated that its personalization strategy could move into offline retail as the business also entered new product categories.

Q: What makes an effective social media strategy for a beauty brand?

An effective strategy begins with a clear understanding of the audience and the messages that resonate with it. The brand's voice and execution should remain authentic instead of imitating a direct competitor. Creativity should align with the brand's identity and beliefs, while an internal team should be able to innovate, take risks, react quickly, and adapt to changing platforms.

Q: Why did Alexandra Papazian join Function of Beauty?

Alexandra Papazian was drawn to brands with clear identities, authentic stories, strong founder influence, and a record of being first at something. She recognized these traits in Function of Beauty after meeting its founders. She was also impressed by the company's team and by its distinctive software, hardware, industrial systems, and demonstrated ability to deliver customization at scale.

Q: How did the pandemic affect Function of Beauty's business?

The pandemic had both favorable and difficult effects. It accelerated the shift toward online shopping, encouraging customers to visit Function of Beauty's website and engage with its personalized value proposition. At the same time, the company manufactured products in-house rather than using contract manufacturers, which complicated operations. Its international following also made delayed shipping and fulfillment especially challenging.

Summary & Key Takeaways

• Function of Beauty began with a vision to replace standardized beauty products with individually formulated alternatives. Its founders combined formulation chemistry, a customer hair quiz, an algorithm, and automated production so that every customer could receive a distinct product without limiting the concept to a small niche market.

• The company grew from a small founding team and modest daily output into an organization employing hundreds of people, operating multiple United States manufacturing plants, and producing thousands of products daily. It also expanded beyond personalized online hair care by entering Target and beginning to develop products in skin care.

• Successful digital and social media strategy depends on understanding the audience, maintaining an authentic brand voice, and producing creative work aligned with the brand's identity. Alexandra Papazian also emphasizes building capable internal teams that can innovate, take risks, react quickly, and adapt as platforms and customer behavior evolve.