64
CONTRARIANENTREPRENEURSFORBES.COM OCTOBER 20 20Arnaud Plas, the co-
founder and CEO of Prose, is anxiously
awaiting the arrival of a 60-foot, 10-ton
bespoke machine he has spent two years
building. Currently in pieces on a boat
somewhere in the middle of the Atlan-
tic, en route to Brooklyn from Norman-
dy, France, the enormous new piece of
equipment will let him scale his ultra-
luxe shampoo company by churning out
up to 30,000 custom-mixed bottles a day.
Each will cost $25 for 8.5 fluid ounces,
around 10 times the cost of the equiva-
lent amount of regular old Pantene. If all
goes well, it will arrive at the end of Au-
gust, and he will soon be able to increase
the speed of production 30-fold.
Plas thinks he can sell all that pricey
shampoo—and more. Prose is on track
to hit $50 million in revenue this year,
more than triple last year’s figure
and above its most optimistic pre-
pandemic projections. It also expects
to be profitable for the first time next
year, helped by a large number of re-
turning customers (55% made repeat
purchases in the latest 12 months, far
above what Plas says is more typically
30% for the industry). The company,
which has raised $25 million in ven-A
A Head for Business
Arnaud Plas’ plan for
Prose was inspired
partly by the mom-and-
pop apothecaries in his
native France: “When
I went back to Paris, I
realized I was seeing the
future of the industry.”Locks of Luxury
By Amy Feldman Photograph by Tony Luong for ForbesWhy Brooklyn-based PROSE is betting millions that Americans will fork over
$25 for customized shampoo. Then rinse and repeat.CONTRARIAN ENTREPRENEURS