314: From Stay-At-Home Mom to an $845M Acquisition: How Drunk Elephant’s Tiffany Masterson Made The Leap

When Tiffany Masterson was a stay-at-home mom, she was always looking for ways to make a little extra money. So when the opportunity came around to start selling a brand of bar cleanser as a side hustle, she didn’t think much of it. Little did she know that she would soon develop a passion for skincare, cultivate her own philosophy around what skincare should look like, and launch Drunk Elephant—a brand that was eventually sold to Shiseido in 2019 for a whopping $845 million. In this podcast episode, Masterson takes us through her unexpected journey as an entrepreneur—from having her brother-in-law as her first investor to snagging a partnership with Sephora, to building an incredible company culture. If there’s any other type of content you’d like to see that would be valuable to you during this time, please don’t hesitate to reach out at support@foundr.com. Key Takeaways How Masterson, a stay-at-home mom of four children, started selling bar cleanser as a side hustle Why she developed a fascination with the world of skincare Masterson’s skincare philosophy, and how she started to create her dream product on paper What it was like to have her brother-in-law as her first investor Why Masterson kept the launch of Drunk Elephant in 2013 as minimal as possible How Drunk Elephant caught the eye of Sephora The cost of formulating, producing, and packaging 5,000 units of six products The tough financial conversations Masterson had to have Why Masterson chose to take things day-by-day instead of looking too far into the future The biggest trap Masterson believes most founders fall into How Masterson has kept her turnover rate at less than 2% since 2013 The reason why people get excited about the Drunk Elephant brand Why Masterson doesn’t believe in trying to “outcompete” other brands