This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Carylyne Chan, cofounder of Good Instincts. It has been edited for length and clarity.
When I joined the crypto company CoinMarketCap in 2018, I was part of a very small executive team. Although we all worked remotely, I immediately built a great rapport with Emily Hurd, who was the head of business development at the time, and the only other woman on the executive team.
During a rare in-person retreat in New York City, Emily and I were sitting in Bryant Park, talking about sun protection.
I’ve been really passionate about sun protection since I was a teenager. Protecting your skin from the sun is one of the best things you can do for your health. For me, speaking with friends and family about sun safety — and even lathering them up with sunscreen — is an act of love.
I didn’t realize during that conversation that my passion was also a business idea.
I knew I wanted to partner with Emily on my new venture
I shared my favorite sun protection products with Emily that day, and then we got back to work on CoinMarketCap. Over the next two years, we built a robust company and eventually had an opportunity to sell. Because of a nondisclosure agreement, I can’t say how much the company was sold for, but it left us both with a financial cushion that helped us feel comfortable with the risk of starting something new.
At the same time, I had been learning more about the chemicals in sunscreen. I’d gone down the rabbit hole and became obsessed with the idea of making a fully mineral sunscreen that blended in well and felt luxurious.
I knew Emily would be a great partner for my new venture. To this day, we’ve probably spent less than 14 days together in person, but we have a great relationship. That’s a testament to the power of the internet, but also our dynamic. We respect each other to make wise decisions.
I took 4 years to develop a product I loved
CoinMarketCap was successful because we were tightly focused on user experience. We built a platform that people wanted to come back to, day after day.
That’s what I wanted to do with sunscreen: create a product so good that using it became second nature. It needed to provide a really great experience that people would want to come back for. That’s important for safety, too, since most people don’t reapply their sunscreen often enough.
Because I had money from the acquisition, I was able to spend time on creating an excellent product. That took about four years. I was working in Singapore most of the time; once I had a product I liked, I would send it to Emily in New York.
We rely on late-night and early-morning calls
Last year, we finally brought Good Instincts sunscreen to the market. It’s been incredibly validating to see the customer response. We believe we have the best product on the market, and our customers do too. One repeat customer has ordered 24 times. It’s nice to know we have superfans.
The most meaningful feedback comes from people who haven’t been able to use sunscreen in the past because of sensitive skin, acne, or other reasons. Now, they have an option to stay safe in the sun.
Emily and I have been able to build this company from two sides of the globe. We benefit from the fact that I’m a night owl and she’s a morning person, so our working hours overlap more than you might expect. We also use Notion to be in constant contact, even when we’re working asynchronously. It’s honestly miraculous, the rapport we’ve built and what we’ve been able to achieve together.
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