With nearly twenty years of commercial and executive experience building multiple market-leading brands in the $3.5 billion medical aesthetics industry, David Moatazedi joined performance beauty company Evolus as President and Chief Executive Officer in May 2018. Moatazedi knew he needed to rewrite the rules to take on the entrenched legacy brand in the category.
In the past five years, Evolus achieved regulatory approvals in the US for the company’s flagship product, Jeuveau, and in Canada, Europe, and Australia for the brand Nuceiva.
Under his leadership, Evolus achieved revenues of $202 million in 2023, representing 36% growth over the prior year, and has been the fastest-growing brand in the category in the US for three consecutive years. Global revenue is projected to reach at least $700 million by 2028 for its current brands, with plans to build out its portfolio of aesthetic products in the near future.
Evolus has made a name for itself as an industry disruptor, moving away from the aesthetics category to define its own performance beauty movement. BeautyMatter sat down with the NEXT 2024 Innovator of the Year Finalist David Moatazedi to talk innovation.
What does innovation mean to you?
Innovation is all about creating a solution for a problem our customers did not realize they had. At Evolus, that started with our decision to be focused exclusively on aesthetics. Our flagship product, Jeuveau, is the only neurotoxin that is indicated for aesthetic use. This frees Evolus from reimbursement complexities and allows us to offer our customers meaningful marketing programs. We are the only aesthetics-only company that offers co-branded marketing.
What is the accomplishment you are most proud of?
Industries rarely pivot, but when they do it creates significant opportunities for new entrants. That was the backdrop behind my decision to leave the market leader at the pinnacle of my career to join Evolus. This category is shifting away from the name that defines it today, “medical aesthetics,” and moving towards a new category we define as “performance beauty.” Just as finance was redefined by fintech, performance beauty will play a role in shaping the beauty category. The move away from medical and reimbursed products gives Evolus the freedom to operate closer to the beauty space, where our performance products are FDA proven and stand out in their efficacy.
The name Evolus was derived from "Evolution," and today our tagline "Evolve With Us" is present across our customer materials. We are proud to be one of the newer entrants in our category with a focused consumer effort targeting a younger generation of consumers with a modern, edgy, and tech-forward brand named Jeuveau. We view Jeuveau as an approachable beauty brand where a consumer can book an appointment the same day and be in and out of a medical spa or clinic in less than 20 minutes. Faster than you can get your hair or nails done. The younger generation of consumers perceives injectable treatments like Jeuveau as a beauty treatment, and they don’t have the same stigmatized perception as an older generation. This is one of the reasons why Jeuveau is the fastest growing brand in the neurotoxin space for the past three consecutive years.
Our performance beauty strategy extends beyond our positioning and branding. We've also approached our customers (the injectors) differently from our competition. We are the first company in our space to offer co-branded media, brand collaborations, and work in different ways from our competitors. In just several years we've co-branded thousands of digital campaigns, over 1,400 billboards across the United States, and most recently created hundreds of TV spots hosted on streaming channels. Today we have a presence in over 13,000 clinics in the United States, we've recently begun our expansion into Europe, and our R&D team has been busy developing a next- generation line of injectable dermal fillers named Evolysse we plan to introduce in 2025.
Innovation is about trying new things and taking risks, making failure inextricably tied to the process. Everyone wants to be innovative, but they fear the consequences of failure. What is your relationship with "failure"?
We had a very challenging start when we first launched Jeuveau in the US. Within 90 days from launch, we were dealing with the shutdown of the pandemic and heavy litigation from our competition. We had to make significant cuts in our organization to sustain, and during that time we faced the uncertainty of whether Evolus would survive the impact of both events. We ultimately resolved the litigation and the world reopened from the pandemic. By the first quarter of 2021, we relaunched Jeuveau in the US and have been the fastest growing brand in our category for the last three consecutive years.
True innovation often spurs imitation. How do you ensure you maintain the competitive edge your innovation provided?
Part of keeping our competitive edge is knowing when to innovate and when to stay committed to a strategy that is working. We are the only company in our peer set that is exclusively dedicated to aesthetics. Our flagship product Jeuveau is a breakthrough neurotoxin and the only neurotoxin exclusively in the cash-pay aesthetics market. We have not changed our strategy and have continued to create more value for our customers as a result. As an aesthetics-only company, we are not tethered to reimbursement constraints. This allows us to partner with our customers differently. We have greater pricing flexibility, and this model enables co-branded marketing that promotes the brand and the practice, drawing the millennial consumer to the practice.
It is easy to be disruptive in the early stages of a business, but organizational culture often resists change and innovation. How have you built a culture that will continue to support innovation as you scale?
Our culture at Evolus is something that we take pride in. At our core, Evolus is bringing innovation and forward-thinking technology to an industry desperately wanting frictionless experiences. As a result, our culture is intentional. We have four values that define us and these values spell GIFT:
The first is Grit. We’re not daunted by things that are hard. And we’ll never shy away from tackling the tough stuff. As a team, we let passion and perseverance drive us forward to create a company and experience like no other.
Next is Impact. As a team united, we commit to reach beyond our roles. We move quickly but also have enough time and space to create broad, innovative ideas. Nobody will hold you back here. Your voice matters. Your impact will be yours to own.
Fun is our third value. If you love what you do, you’ll never work a day in your life. This is a mantra we live and breathe. We look forward to Mondays because the work that we do doesn’t feel like work.
And we are Transparent. We’re clear, open and honest—with our customers and with each other. We value loyalty, and we deliver transparent value with every interaction.
What advice would you give to the next generation of innovators?
Stay Curious: Always be curious and open to new ideas. The best innovations often come from unexpected places and perspectives.
Be well-rounded: Inspiration can come from outside your industry.
Stay flexible and be willing to pivot when necessary: The ability to adapt quickly to changing circumstances is crucial for innovation.
Embrace community and partnerships.
And help others. We believe that investing in the next generation of talent not only strengthens our workforce, but our community as well.
What excites you about the future of the industry?
The pace of innovation coming to our space is very exciting, and this means more advanced technologies for consumers. There are many areas of unmet needs for consumers, and I’m confident that our industry will develop technologies that can address them in the future.
Where do you find your inspiration?
From our Evolus employees and customers who are dedicated to the field of medical aesthetics. We are carving a new path in beauty, and this requires a community that believes in the quality of our products, the effectiveness of the treatments, and the importance of the highest level of customer service. What we’ve done in partnership with our customers is something that no one expected when we faced the challenges of the pandemic and litigation in 2019.
