Why They Stayed Bootstrapped

Aliett Buttelman spent eight years grinding in the dark before a single viral moment with Taylor Swift turned Fazit into an overnight seven-figure brand. In this interview, Aliett breaks down the exact pivot that saved the company, how she identified product-market fit after years of plateauing at $20K per month, and the organic social strategy that now generates over half a million views every day. From bootstrapping with $13K to navigating 100+ investor rejections and finally securing mass retail with Target, this is the blueprint for building a breakout CPG brand in one of the most competitive beauty markets. What you’ll learn in this interview: • How a single Taylor Swift appearance drove seven-figure sales in 48 hours • How Aliett pivoted from slow-growth acne patches to viral makeup patches • The social content framework that produces daily 500K+ view videos • Why aspirational products can outperform problem-solving products • How to bootstrap a CPG brand with limited capital and no agency support • The exact moment Fazit discovered true product-market fit • Why Fazit chose Amazon as a primary channel (and how it paid off) • The dangers of taking bad retail deals and why most founders miss this • Lessons from 100+ VC rejections and how to know when not to raise • The behind-the-scenes strategy that secured a 1,000-store Target rollout By the end of this episode, you’ll understand how to build a lean, viral-ready brand, validate demand fast, and prepare for the “overnight” moment that can change everything — even if it takes years of grit and persistence to get there.

SAVE 50% ON OMNISEND FOR 3 MONTHS Get 50% off your first 3 months of email and SMS marketing with Omnisend with the code FOUNDR50. Just head to ⁠⁠https://your.omnisend.com/foundr⁠⁠ to get started. HOW WE CAN HELP YOU SCALE YOUR BUSINESS FASTER Learn directly from 7, 8 & 9-figure founders inside Foundr+ Start your $1 trial → ⁠⁠https://www.foundr.com/startdollartrial⁠⁠ PREFER A CUSTOM ROADMAP AND 1-ON-1 COACHING? → Starting from scratch? Apply here → ⁠⁠https://foundr.com/pages/coaching-start-application⁠⁠ → Already have a store? Apply here → ⁠⁠https://foundr.com/pages/coaching-growth-application⁠⁠ CONNECT WITH NATHAN CHAN Instagram → ⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/nathanchan⁠⁠ LinkedIn → ⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/nathanhchan/⁠⁠ CONNECT WITH ALIETT BUTTELMAN Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/fazitbeauty/?hl=en LinkedIn → https://www.linkedin.com/in/aliett-buttelman-9a662312b/ Fazit Website → https://fazitbeauty.com/ FOLLOW FOUNDR FOR MORE BUSINESS GROWTH STRATEGIES YouTube → ⁠⁠https://bit.ly/2uyvzdt⁠⁠ Website → ⁠⁠https://www.foundr.com⁠⁠ Instagram → ⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/foundr/⁠⁠ Facebook → ⁠⁠https://www.facebook.com/foundr⁠⁠ Twitter → ⁠⁠https://www.twitter.com/foundr⁠⁠ LinkedIn → ⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/company/foundr/⁠⁠ Podcast → ⁠⁠https://www.foundr.com/podcast