Hey! It’s Doone, your hype girl in business. This one goes out to Taylor Swift for showing us that doing your due diligence is cool and might just save you a whole lot of trouble down the road. Let's keep that one in mind as we're building our businesses this week.

And at the end of this newsletter we ask a quick question about your current challenges... Let’s get into it 👇

3 Need-to-Know Tips to Launch your Brand into Target 🎯

Gatekeeping is out and transparency is in and that is a capital WIN for you and your business. We are living in a time of accessibility and sharing, and it's a huge bye-bye to unsupportive business practices. Yay for that!

When Le Mini Macaron had the chance to pitch Target following a huge momentum of covid-inspired at-home-manicure options, Christina did what a founder simply does nowadays. You ask advice from someone a little ahead of you in the journey who has been there and done that and got the golden tips. When she asked a founder friend about their Target launch, she didn't expect to hear...

***scrambles for a pen and piece of paper***

1. Shout (so, so loudly) 📣 the friend she had spoken to launched with no brand awareness and no marketing push to get there. You need to amplify your launch as much as possible: throw everything at it. Your team, influencers, giveaways, content - all directed to Target. Nothing is too much.

2. Get your pricing right (for the store) 💰 this founder charged $30/item on a shelf that averaged significantly lower than other products next to it. With no brand awareness and a high price point product, it's hard to shine bright.

3. Treat this as the biggest opportunity of your (business) life ⭐ getting into the store is just the start, and getting your products off the shelf is what will cement your success - velocity matters - celebrate the win but don't slow the engine!

This conversation alone gave Christina the pep she needed to know: "We're not going to fail this launch. We are going to throw everything at it." It's really all about having the resources and the previous failures to know what you definitely don't want happening. & then diving straight in 🤿.

Get Christina's Target Launch Blueprint →

The LIPSTICK effect 💄

So, beauty founders, I recently found out that this pending recession might not all be bad news. If L'Oreal's sales figures (see news to know below 👀) and the Lipstick Effect are anything to go by, you might just be fine.

Eerrrrr, what's the Lipstick Effect and how can I use it??? WELL, let me explain. The lipstick effect is a funny little quirk of consumer behavior that pops up during times of economic downturn. Just when you expect sales to be plummeting, the beauty industry finds the contrarian trend of smaller items selling better during this time. The reason being: people want to treat themselves to something nice, but can't afford big-ticket luxury items. Instead, they turn to smaller indulgences like lipstick (GUILTY!!!).

Whatever the reason, the Lipstick Effect is very real and it might just be the silver lining to these tough times for beauty founders (& any other founders honing in on those small indulgences). This might just be just best go-to strategy for 2023.

• Funding for women remains ‘meh’ in Q1 2023 at just 2.1%

• Female Startup Club went live on tv last week talking philanthropy & funding

• L’Oréal reports a first-quarter sales boost of 13% year-over-year

• 'Smart Tampon' uses AI to detect cervical cancer, wow

• As if we needed another reason to love Tay Swift ($100M FTX sponsorship deal)

• Sontse (sunless tanning) launched this week

• Reformation expands into handbags 

• This CEO got into trouble this week for "pity city" comment

• The ATO is using data matching tech to crack down on influencer gifts

• BaubleBar launches accessories line with MLB

• Montana passes bill banning TikTok in the state

• Public funding for gyno health is severely lacking

• More single women are working than ever, but this isn't adding up

• Apple launches high-interest savings accounts with Goldman

• DYK: you can catch our top news as a 30 sec video snippet right here

UNSW 😇 Investing Program...

Sydney-based readers listen up! UNSW is hosting an Angel Investor Program next month for anyone looking to gain the knowledge and skills needed to invest in promising startups. I'm hyped about this one. Let's dive into the details:-

• 📍 UNSW Sydney, CBD Campus

• ⏰ 10 - 12 May, 2023 (3 days)

• 💸 $2,860 AUD (inc. GST)

This week's lineup...

This week's recommendations...

REMOTE 🌎

• Your destination for game-changing products for pleasure, Dame, is looking for a Director of Marketing to join the team. Find out more here.

• Stitch Fix, the personal styling clothes box, is on the hunt for a Senior Social Strategy Manager to strengthen the marketing team. More here.

NYC 🇺🇸

• Gen Z's fave period care brand August is hiring a Vice President of Marketing to start making moves in the department. Apply directly here.

Melbourne 🥐

• The only Prene® Bags is searching for a freelance Content Creator to shoot and edit iPhone content, DM the founder directly if you're interested.

For an exclusive look into the behind-the-scenes of building Aussie's fave scalp-care brand check out Meagan's story (& don't forget to say hi @femalestartupclub 👋)