What does it take to build a venture-backed platform that helps creators and founders launch beauty brands—without losing your values (or your mind)?

In this replay, Blanka co-founder & CEO Kaylee Lieffers gets real about growing up “between worlds,” why entrepreneurship can be incubated, and how she went from consulting decks to zero-to-one product, team, and traction.

We dive into the messy middle—co-founder dynamics (including building with her husband), raising an oversubscribed seed in tough markets, why Blanka chose no MOQs to truly “arm the rebels,” and the leadership shift from player to coach. If you’re building anything in public, this one hits.

What we get into

• The “against-the-grain” upbringing that made entrepreneurship feel inevitable

• Can entrepreneurship be taught—or just incubated?

• From corporate frameworks to startup chaos: translating structured thinking into speed

• Blanka’s origin story: killing a sunscreen idea to chase the bigger problem

• How to choose the right co-founders (green flags, red flags, and testing ground)

• Bootstrapping first, fundraising later: timing your capital so dollars have a job

• Product truths: ship a smaller MVP, build process earlier, fix signals fast

• Why no minimums matter for real access—and how Blanka made it viable

• Beauty’s next era: archaic back-end, tech-forward future, and niche, narrative-led brands

• Leading at scale: letting go, prioritizing what actually moves the needle