The prestige beauty incubator is on a mission to build iconic brands founded by artistic visionaries and fueled by creativity, authenticity and a passion for nurturing community and education around their brands.

Artistry defines the DNA of Luxury Brand Partners, the prestige beauty incubator with a highly select portfolio and a deeply collaborative approach to brand-building.

“We are a creative business. Every brand we touch has to have a visionary behind it,” said Tev Finger, President and Chief Executive Officer, Luxury Brand Partners. The incubator is responsible for developing and growing standout brands including Oribe (which sold to Kao Corp. at the end of 2017), and Becca Cosmetics (acquired by The Estée Lauder Cos. in 2016).

The incubator’s current portfolio includes a complementary range of brands, spanning hair, nail polish and men’s grooming, including R+Co, IGK, Smith & Cult, V76 by Vaughn and, until recently, Pulp Riot.

At the end of May, L’Oréal acquired Pulp Riot, the professional hair color brand that was born online in 2016.

“Pulp Riot’s success was very rapid,” said Tev. “When David Thurston of Pulp Riot pitched his idea to us, he said, ‘I have a group of 10 colorists and stylists who have a lot of Instagram followers’. His whole concept was hair color, bright colors, like red, blue, green, that dial in to the millennial mindset.”

Today, Pulp Riot has acquired more than 680,000 Instagram followers, and generated net sales of $11 million in 2017. Pulp Riot’s founder, David, also created Butterfly Circus, a traveling collection of educators who tour North America teaching the latest cutting, coloring and styling techniques in a fun, engaging format.

“Pulp Riot has so much runway, and there is so much education taking place with Butterfly Circus. Pulp Riot didn’t need a sales force. Everything is sold online. Welearned a wealth of information.”

Luxury Brand Partners typically invests at a very early stage in a brand’s lifespan “where most of the risk lies”. “Most businesses take three years to build. With Pulp Riot, it only took a year and a half. I don’t expect this level of success moving forward,” said Tev.

Beyond selecting and investing in visionary brands, there is also deftness in how Luxury Brand Partners manages the challenges of collaborating with artists.

“I feel like a business artist,” said Tev. “You can’t tell an artist what he or she sees. You package it for them, and present it back to them. They have to own it.”

“I love dealing with artists who are crazy in a good way. You have to be a good listener. What they’re saying in words isn’t always what they mean. A lot of times, they talk in feelings. In the beginning, I had no idea what they were saying. When artists pitch their brand, they’ll talk a lot about what it feels like. When I ask what the product looks like, they’ll say, ‘I have no idea.’ And that’s where the collaboration starts. We help them ideate and develop their business.”

Once a brand is on board, it becomes its own LLC, and an independently run company under Luxury Brand Partners. “We are the major investor in the brand. Each brand has its own President. We try to keep the structure very simple and clear.”

While Tev’s own success may appear meteoric, it didn’t happen overnight. “I don’t count it as rapid. It’s been a long progression. When I was 17, I was sweeping floors at Bumble & Bumble. The Bumble journey was the best education. I learned so much about beauty and makeup. We made tons of mistakes. I lasted 15 years at Bumble, until we sold it to Lauder. A year later, we came up with a luxury brand and created Oribe.”

The rest is beauty incubator legend.

In 2016, inspired by platforms such as Butterfly Circus, Tev had the quirky idea to create a talk show for the hair industry only, and broadcast on the Internet. Tev called it The Late Night With Tev Finger. The show’s aim, beyond fun, was to highlight the best parts of the salon industry.

“I wanted a Shark Tank meets Late Night show. We are entrepreneurs and you need to do things differently. I wanted to meet everyone in my industry. We made it up, and invited people. Everyone came, celebs in the hair industry. It got me to have conversations. I was interviewing people to see who has talent.”

The total cost of the show was $60,000 for the entire year.

Tev said that he will be adapting Late Night for influencers. “The next big thing is influencer brands. Have an influencer become a brand. It has to do with the buy-in power of their community. There are some amazing influencers who do a great job curating the selection of what they talk about without bastardizing their name. It’s like an advanced Pulp Riot.”

A self-described entrepreneurial junkie, Tev is already looking for the next big brand. “Every time we sell a brand, it gets more intense. It becomes a calling card. Before you know it, we are building a brand again.”