Michelle Cordeiro Grant Sold Her First Company for $105 Million: Here's What She's Doing Differently in Her Second Startup

Michelle Cordeiro Grant sold her first startup, Lively, for $105 million only three years after launching. She took on Victoria’s Secret to bring women underwear they’d actually want to wear daily (so, not a corset)—and won.

Her second act is Gorgie, an energy drink with beauty benefits for women. Energy drinks are an $18 billion industry that, Michelle says, isn't catering to women. This means we have a front row seat to follow a proven founder's pre-launch strategy unfold in real time—an experience that's harder to come by than tickets to Taylor Swift.

This time, she's building hype with experiences. Lively launched in 2016 with a referral program that created a 133,000-email waitlist by incentivizing sign ups with rewards like merch and product. Now at Gorgie, Michelle’s created a similar email referral program, this time rewarding referrals with access and experiences rather than products.

"When we ask people what they want, they want experiences. And so Gorgie is offering now in our pre-launch access to disco parties, yacht days, and benefits from different brands, not just ours."

Although Gorgie only just received its first canned product in late 2022, they've been spreading Gorgie swag since September. Michelle says new brands must get out there in a physical way long before the product launches.

"Your brand's only as big as you make it to seem in the beginning. So, number one: Swag. You can get a cooler and stickers and postcards made—and now you've arrived."

Michelle raised money from investors to launch her Gorgie, and has learned fundraising is all about FOMO: "Raising money is all about the FOMO that you create and the energy that you're putting out there."

To win in a male-dominated industry, Michelle’s tapping male mentors to help scale Gorgie: "Bringing in male mentors is a narrative that we as women have to start sharing more and more."

The biggest difference since launching her last company? Michelle says this time she’s looking at it with more of a “glass half full” mentality, leaning into the fun of it, instead of worrying about things that could go wrong.

Want more? Listen to Female Founder World’s podcast with Michelle Cordeiro Grant.