Gen.T+
The Hong Kong-based entrepreneur behind the popular personal care brand, who recently spoke to Gen.T honourees about his professional challenges at our latest Catalyst Series roundtable with JP Morgan, shares his honest views on innovation in the beauty industry
Filip Sedic gets bored easily. That, says the Bosnian-born Swedish inventor, is why he does what does.
“A big problem for me is focusing. I’m interested in so many different things, it’s easy for me to start drifting away. I’m very keen to learn new things, especially things I have no clue about.”
Sedic is the founder and chief imagination officer of Foreo, short for “for everyone”, which launched in 2013 and offers a range of innovative personal care products. This includes the Luna facial cleansing device, Issa sonic toothbrush, UFO smart mask device, Bear microcurrent facelift device, Iris eye massager and Espada LED acne treatment device.
After running a Swedish digital marketing agency in the 1990s, he worked for Swedish telecommunications company Ericsson from 2000 to 2005, then ran women’s intimate health startups Lelo and Intimina.
Read more: In Pictures: Catalyst Series Roundtable Discussion with Foreo Founder Filip Sedic
The personal care industry, he says, has nothing to do with the beauty industry—largely because its products actually work.
“The whole beauty industry is based around the perception of doing something good for yourself, without really doing that. If you buy this magical cream that will fix your wrinkles and it actually does that, are you going to buy another? It’d be a terrible business for them,” he says.
“They have to prove to governments that their products don’t do anything to skin, otherwise they’ll be classed as medical, with much stricter regulation. It’s a kind of game: you prove to governments it doesn’t work, then you find a way to market it as if it’s going to perform miracles. The interests of the customer are not aligned with the interests of the industry.”
Sedic set out to do the opposite with Foreo, creating products that shrink spa treatments into devices that customers can use at home and that are designed to last for decades.
This means the company needs to keep coming up with new products, which calls for a culture of constant innovation. It’s hard to foster one of those in a company though, and even harder to maintain it as a company grows, with a natural tendency to become unwieldy and bureaucratic often kicking in.
“It’s a natural, very human process: in the beginning, everything is exciting. And then once you succeed, you don’t want to change that strategy—it feels like you are settled. I’ve found a lot of tricks to not let this happen.
Read more: This Former Beauty Editor’s App Promotes Green and Clean Beauty