Meet Meg Maupin, CEO & Co-Founder of Atolla
Meghan Maupin, who goes by “Meg,” is the CEO and Co-Founder of Atolla, a revolutionary custom skin health brand that combines patented technology, effective ingredient combinations and virtual expert consults to make a skincare system that takes the guesswork out of your daily routine.
Meg has a graduate degree in Engineering and Management from MIT and an undergraduate degree in Architecture and Environmental Sustainability from UVA. With expertise in integrating new technology into user experience, Meg is passionate about making cutting-edge innovations accessible for everyday users and finding ways to leverage data to make sustainable, better-for-you products. She previously worked in design roles at Patagonia, The MIT Design Lab, and Formlabs before grad school, where she started Atolla and wrote her thesis on “The Societal and Environmental Impacts of the Skincare industry.”
Q: Can you tell us a little bit about how Atolla came to be?
A: The idea for Atolla stemmed from my own personal struggles with my skin; I was stuck in an endless trial and error loop that was inefficient and expensive. Being at MIT, an amazing school for advanced AI and data science, I knew there could be a more scientific approach to figuring out what worked for my skin. So alongside my two co-founders, data scientist Sid Salvi and dermatologist Dr. Ranella Hirsch, we set out to reinvent the traditional skin care model.
Q: What is the key differentiating point of your brand versus other personalized skincare brands?
A: In addition to our patented model, there are 2 main points of differentiation. 1 is our feedback loop that combines objective and subjective data about your skin. This feedback loop is integral to Atolla’s user experience and is continuously optimizing to predict what your skin will need in the future. The second is that we offer personalized guidance in addition to personalized products. This includes skin health tracking through our at-home skin tests, 1:1 esthetician support, and a “skincare manager” tool that helps you add non-Atolla products to your routine without any ingredient conflicts. We are experts in our consumer’s behavior— we know that she uses products from different skincare brands in her routine, so we aim to help her make the most skin-informed decisions possible.
Q: Sometimes we see “end formulas” with ingredients being sold in the guise of personalized skincare when they are no different than regular skin care products. Can you tell us why Atolla is different? And are there any long term clinical studies demonstrating the benefits of using a product from Atolla vs a regular skincare product?
A: Essentially Atolla’s database is like a clinical trial with thousands of participants because every month we collect efficacy data on how the product works on your skin. This is through our at-home skin tests, user assessments, and progress photos. For example, we know that in 3 months, we’ve solved over 60% of user’s skin concerns and 74% of users have “hydrated” skin test measurements. Or that some users with breakouts see visible improvements in 2 weeks or less. We have over 2 million data points on skin, which is much more statistically significant than a normal clinical trial sample size of 30-100 people.
Compared to other personalized skincare products, we follow a very different formulation approach. Our formulas are always evolving based on the data we are collecting, both on an individual and an aggregate level. Our product development process is data-driven and continuously evolving based on what we learn, as opposed to one-time customization or matching a user to a set number of end formulations. I wrote a very detailed blog post about Atolla’s approach, linked here.
Q: Skincare personalization can go quite in depth and cover DNA and epigenetic profiling. Is this something you have explored or will explore at Atolla?
A: Yes, there are many interesting data points we could incorporate to your Atolla skin profile, including DNA and epigenetic testing. The reason we didn’t launch with this was because of our focus on price accessibility and making at-home skin testing as easy and affordable as possible. It is something we are considering integrating in the future.
Q: With personalization companies, a lot of data is collected through various methods like the onboarding survey/quiz. What can you tell us about the skincare needs today and how it has evolved over the past few years?
A: One main trend: people have really overdone their skincare routines during lockdown, which has damaged their skin. Not only have we seen an increase in the amount of products with high actives used together (usually multiple acids at the same time), but we’ve seen skin pH measurements really skew, due to a damaged skin barrier.
Q: How do you incorporate user feedback into your development process?
A: We have a monthly reassessment process, where we ask users feedback on their formulas, if anything has changed in their environment/lifestyle, and have them do the at-home skin test, which measures oil, moisture, and pH levels. All of that data goes into adjusting their formulations to ensure they’re the right fit for the user’s current skin needs. On an aggregate basis, we may start to see trends that suggest new ingredient combinations. For example, this happened last year when we started to see an influx in women over 50 using Atolla and we added more preventative aging ingredients like retinol and peptides to our ingredient library.
Q: In your view, what does the future of beauty personalization look like?
A: Data and sustainability merging to create only products that need to exist. This is not customization to have your name on the bottle, or to oversell the products people need in their daily routine. Less is more, and customization can help drive change in the industry to be focused on data-driven, rather than trend-driven, product development.
Q: As a female founder in tech, can you tell us anything about the challenges you have faced? How did you overcome them?
A: Women in tech often get stereotyped. One way I overcome these biases is to lead with my ideas/vision and close with my credentials, because it guides whoever I’m pitching to understand my value. Women in tech constantly feel like they have to justify their experience or perspective, and I found the best way to communicate that is at the end of the pitch. “And here’s why I’m the most qualified person to do it because I have xyz experience or degree.” One great book on this topic is “The Edge” by HBS professor Laura Huang, which I highly recommend!
Q: What is the one piece of advice you would offer an aspiring beauty entrepreneur?
A: The industry is oversaturated and there is a huge problem with consumption and waste—people buying products then throwing them away unused or half used. Any aspiring beauty entrepreneur needs to be making strides towards solving these problems, rather than launching new products that further perpetuate the issues.
Q: What beauty products can you not live without and why?
A: I’ll answer this question literally—SPF! I’m fair, burn easily, and have had several suspicious moles removed before the age of 30. I wear SPF every day, rain or shine, and lately I am loving Supergoop Glow Screen. Outside of Atolla, my other daily routine staple is the Skinceuticals A.G.E Eye Complex.