579: The Strategy That Made NYX a Household Name | Toni Ko (Best of Foundr)

The Foundr Podcast with Nathan Chan

Nathan Chan

Marketing, Business, Entrepreneurship

4.8 • 662 Ratings

🗓️ 15 August 2025

⏱️ 46 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

In this episode, Toni Ko, founder of NYX Cosmetics, shares how she built one of the fastest-growing cosmetics brands in the world—scaling from a $250,000 investment to a $500M exit to L’Oréal. She reveals: • How she turned 18 SKUs into millions of units sold in year one • The simple packaging strategy that disrupted the beauty industry • Why she avoided debt and scaled profitably without VC pressure • Her raw take on selling her “baby” and facing post-exit depression • The lessons from a failed second business—and why it was her best teacher • Her blueprint for launching multiple influencer-led brands under Bespoke Beauty Brands If you want to learn what it really takes to build, scale, and exit a product brand—this is a must-listen. Foundr Community Offers Want 1-on-1 mentorship to launch or scale your brand faster? Apply for eCommerce coaching: → Starting your ecom biz? ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Click here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ → Already selling and want to scale? ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Click here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Want all-access to step-by-step training from 7, 8 & 9-figure founders? Start your Foundr+ $1 trial today → ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Click here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Omnisend | Get 50% off your first 3 months of email and SMS marketing with Omnisend with the code FOUNDR50. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Click here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ to get started. Connect With Nathan Chan Instagram → ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Click Here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ LinkedIn → ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Click Here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Connect With Toni Ko Website → ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Click Here⁠ Instagram → ⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠Click Here⁠ Follow Foundr for More Business Growth Strategies YouTube → ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Click here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Website → ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Click here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Instagram → ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Click here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Facebook → ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Click here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Twitter → ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Click here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ LinkedIn → ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Click here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Podcast → ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Click here

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey Founder Fam, I want to talk to you about something super exciting. We're officially partnered with Omniscend, the email marketing and SMS platform built specifically for e-commerce founders. We've been recommending OmnisCent to Founder students for a while now because it just works. Whether you're launching your first store or you're scaling the seven figures, it really helps you automate your marketing and get real results.
0:24.0	Did you know on average, Omnysend customers make $68 for every $1 they spend, which is an insanely good return on investment.
0:32.6	And because you're part of the founder community, you get 50% off your first three months with the code Founder 50.
0:39.3	Just head to Omnisend.com forward slash founder without the E to get started.
0:45.0	All right. Now let's jump back into the show.
0:49.0	Hey Founder fam, Nathan Chan here and today's episode is one that I've been really excited to jump back into.
0:56.6	I sit down with the incredible Tony Coe, who's the founder of Nick's Cosmetics,
1:01.0	who built a global beauty empire from absolutely nothing, literally starting out solo,
1:06.1	doing everything herself to eventually exiting to L'Oreal for a massive deal of $500 million.
1:13.3	And in this episode, we get into the raw truth of building a business from scratch,
1:17.2	what it's really like to go through a big exit, and then the unexpected challenges of life
1:22.0	after a major sale. This is a common thread that I hear, right? It's really interesting,
1:26.3	really cool to see how she bounces back, but also what happens?
1:30.0	You think you've made it after you had this big sale.
1:32.3	Plus, she also shares inspiring stories from her journey, how she went from moving boxes in high heels to making millions in her first year.
1:40.0	So if you want to start a cosmetic brand, you want to get incredible exit for your econ brand.
1:44.7	This is incredible.
1:46.4	All right, there's so much gold here for you guys.
1:48.5	Let's jump straight in.
1:49.6	Hear the stories.
1:51.1	Learn the proven methods and accelerate your growth and future through entrepreneurship.
1:57.0	Welcome to the founder podcast with Nathan Chan.
	...

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