The Foundr Podcast with Nathan Chan 603: He Built a $1B Beauty Brand Selling $1 Makeup | Joey Shamah
Nov 6, 2025
Joey Shamah, co-founder of e.l.f. Cosmetics, shares his journey of turning a bold $1 makeup concept into a billion-dollar brand. He discusses how he disrupted the beauty industry with innovative marketing strategies and a unique retail approach, including a viral Bloomingdale's rumor that led to 192,000 orders overnight. Joey also reveals insights on navigating the IPO process, acquiring legacy brands, and the importance of adapting to market demands while maintaining simplicity in pricing. His experiences offer a playbook for aspiring entrepreneurs.
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Finding White Space In Dollar Retail
- Joey found whitespace by studying dollar stores and seeing low-quality cosmetics as an opportunity.
- He launched a $1 line to provide consistent, decent-quality products where others sold closeouts or non-branded junk.
Strip Costs To Hit Extreme Value
- Strip out expensive marketing and celebrity endorsements to hit extreme value.
- Design product assortments and sourcing to make low price points economically viable.
Press Forced E‑commerce Launch
- Press features drove spikes in demand before retail distribution existed.
- A Glamour placement forced them to add e-commerce and immediately produced hundreds of orders.
