Building and launching a personal care product vs. software are two very different processes.

Once a cosmetic product ships, it's fixed. Unless you recall the product, you can’t change much about it. With software, you can launch and then iterate as much as you want.

That's an advantage for software, but that doesn't make getting to launch easy.

We learned this the hard way this spring, when we had our first European onsite.

Over half the founding team has roots in Vienna, so we spent the week there. The goal was ambitious: release ClaimsHub and Label Review, back to back, by the end of the week. We had already been building the AI systems behind both tools for months, so we felt good about our chances.

We worked hard all week. By the end, only ClaimsHub was ready.

I learnt two important lessons from Vienna:

Ahead of the ClaimsHub launch, we spent months testing the Claims Engine to make sure the quality and consistency of its outputs met our standards. Getting the interface right took several iterations, including adding our QuickChat capability along the way.

On top of that, we had endless conversations with clients to get their feedback on ClaimsHub and make sure we were actually delivering value. All this to say, it's a herculean effort just to get to 90%, even if that number doesn't sound impressive on its own. For me, the 90% mark means something users find value in and can trust.

The right time to launch is somewhere around 90%, not 100%. It’s nearly impossible to know what 100% looks like until real users are in the product. Even while iterating on user feedback, new opportunities that you couldn't have planned for will show up.

Software can adapt faster than physical products can, and the best companies lean into that advantage. Instead of treating launch as the finish line, they keep shipping small improvements based on feedback. As new technologies, regulations, and pain points emerge, the best products adapt to them.

The 90% floor is the bar for being correct and trustworthy, not a cop out to ship something half-baked. The improvement loop after that is about getting sharper and delivering a product that delights users.

When we first launched ClaimsHub, it was built almost entirely around regulatory defensibility. How to substantiate this claim, is it allowed in Japan, etc.

Once real users got in, people also wanted to know how competitive their claims were, not just whether they were legally sound. That feedback pushed us to add a new vector to the product, showing brands how their claims stack up in the market.

Label Review Tool has followed the same path, just a couple months behind. One clear example: early users kept asking for the ability to filter their analysis results by status.

Looking ahead, I’m focused on increasing our speed of iteration post launch and not letting perfect get in the way of progress.

LOTSSSS of credit and bankruptcy proceedings in this week’s finance edition!

QVC walked out of Chapter 11 having shed $5B in debt (common equityholders got completely wiped out and bondholders took a MASSIVE haircut) and Harvey Nichols sold for £40M out of administration after burning through £190M in losses.

On the equity side, Partners Group is circling Aroma-Zone at $2.3B, Ashland (NYSE: ASH) put itself on the acquisition block, and the Boots sale stalled when the only bidder left got cold feet.

Let's dive in:

Partners Group entered exclusive talks to acquire a majority stake in French natural beauty and wellness brand Aroma-Zone from Eurazeo, in a deal valuing the company at roughly $2.3B including debt.

Eurazeo will retain a significant minority stake and expects around €576M in gross proceeds to its balance sheet.

Founded in 1999 in Provence, Aroma-Zone has tripled revenue since Eurazeo took control in 2021. Learn more.

Ashland (NYSE: ASH), the specialty ingredients maker with a roughly $3.5B market cap, is exploring a sale after receiving takeover interest, per Bloomberg.

Citigroup and Lazard are advising, with Advent, Apollo, and Carlyle among the private equity firms that have made contact, alongside existing shareholder Standard Industries.

The process follows activist pressure from Ancora, which built a stake in May and argued a sale could lift the share price at least 30%.

QVC Group (Nasdaq: QVCG) emerged from Chapter 11 after cutting more than $5B of debt, dropping its load from roughly $6.6B to about $1.3B.

The company secured a $600M asset-backed facility led by Strategic Value Partners and Oaktree, resumed Nasdaq trading, and named Mike George interim CEO as David Rawlinson stepped down. Learn more.

Frasers Group, Mike Ashley's retail empire, acquired luxury department store Harvey Nichols out of administration in a pre-pack deal worth around £40M.

The deal covers six stores including the Knightsbridge flagship, the online business, 1,000 employees, and international franchise operations. Harvey Nichols racked up £190M in cumulative pre-tax losses over six years, with revenue down 10% to £184.7M, ending Sir Dickson Poon's 35-year ownership. Frasers warned that significant restructuring lies ahead. Learn more.

Sycamore Partners saw talks over a £7B sale of Boots stall after the Weston family cut its offer, leaving the retailer's ownership uncertain.

The Westons turned cautious on inflation and rate risk, and became the sole bidder after Sigma Healthcare withdrew in June. Sources put the deal at 50/50, with Sycamore said to be preparing a 2027 London relisting as the fallback. Learn more.

Tasso Partners led an oversubscribed $26M Series B in Amplifica, the clinical-stage biotech developing injectable hair growth treatments, with Eli Lilly and principals of Scopia Capital participating.

The UC Irvine spinout is building a pipeline around signaling molecules that reactivate dormant follicles, rather than merely slowing loss. The round brings total funding to roughly $37.8M and targets androgenetic alopecia, which affects an estimated 80M US adults. Learn more.

PharmaResearch, the South Korean regenerative medicine company behind Rejuran, agreed to acquire California-based cosmetics OEM and ODM manufacturer CG USA; terms were not disclosed. Learn more.

Vyrao, the British niche fragrance brand founded by Yasmin Sewell in 2021, is reportedly nearing completion of a sale, with existing investors Manzanita and Waldencast (NASDAQ: WALD) said to be in discussions. Learn more.

Gorgeous Collective, the MPK Equity Partners-backed franchise platform anchored by IMAGE Studios, acquired skincare and facial bar franchise Clean Your Dirty Face; terms were not disclosed.

It is the first acquisition since Gorgeous Collective launched in July. Founder Shama Patel built the brand to 33 locations, retains an equity stake, and stays on as CEO. Learn more.

Kakao Ventures led a $1.4M seed round in K-beauty skincare startup 6PENCE, with Amorepacific and K2 Investment Partners participating.

The brand pays creators on actual purchase conversions through social-selling and affiliate channels rather than seeding free product. Learn more.

Beauty Bytes has grown tremendously by word of mouth and online engagement, and we're very thankful for that. So we built a proper way to say thank you.

Share your personal link, and depending on how many people you send our way, you unlock:

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