How Native Deodorant Grew To $100 M In 2.5 Years

In 2015, while Moiz Ali was buying an Axe deodorant, he took a closer look at the ingredients and couldn’t understand a single one. In July of that year, he launched Native, a non-toxic deodorant brand, and 2.5 years later he sold it for $100 Million!

Here is how he did it:

Be Frugal At First

Instead of spending months working on branding and perfecting the formula, Moiz started the company in 12 days with a $1,000 initial investment. At first, he launched it on Product Hunt and only made the first order from his supplier once he saw that there was demand. This helped him avoid wasting money early on before knowing if the product had traction.

Instead of working with a large manufacturer, Moiz decided to white label the deodorant from an Etsy seller, here’s why:

• Low Minimum Order Quantity: manufacturers were asking him for a minimum order of 5k-10k sticks. The Etsy seller agreed to start with a 100.

• Speed: Conventional suppliers needed 4-6 months to make the products since they had to follow a schedule, on Etsy, it only took a week.

• Credibility: Back in 2015, most manufacturers wouldn’t even talk to Moiz since Native was still very small.

Sell, Get Feedback, Improve, Rinse and Repeat

When the business first launched, the product was mediocre and while people were willing to give it a try, only 20-22% reordered it.

Moiz spent the first year improving the formula. Once a customer bought a deodorant, he would send them a message saying:

You got a stick of Native deodorant. Love to know what you think about it. If you love the product, please leave a review on our site. If you don’t, reply to this email and tell us what you don’t like, and we’ll try to fix it.

After going through many variations, he finally launched the new formula in the summer of 2016, and the reorder rate started increasing till it reached 50%.

The month before Native was acquired, it was doing $1 Million in net profit!

That's all, thanks