We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Matthew J. Sánchez a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Matthew, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Risk taking is something we’re really interested in and we’d love to hear the story of a risk you’ve taken.
A major risk we took at Matteo Parfums was to debut our first product, Celadawn, during the pandemic in Fall 2020. Considering we are a fine fragrance house, launching products at this time was almost insane because perfumes and colognes are desired small luxuries that people like to smell in person. And as we all remember, no one was leaving their homes at this time; there were virtually no events, remote work was the new norm, and retail shopping took a major hit as online shopping took over.
However, I rolled with the punches and the circumstances for what they were. I made the timing perfect for me and MATTEO PARFUMS. I was meticulously studying the DTC landscape, researching the best methods and approaches for luxury & prestige CPG marketing and channels, and compiled all of this into my product launch. The online store was primed for purchase, we had virtual batches of inventory ready to go weekly, and scheduled out our promotion for a solid 2 months. This all resulted in us completely selling out opening weekend. This literally became a preview of how the rest of our journey would unfold: pleasant surprises and generous momentum and support.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
I’m Matthew J. Sánchez, also affectionately known by many as Matt or “Mateo”, the Founder and Perfumer of the California-based fine fragrance brand, MATTEO PARFUMS.
I entered the fragrance industry by divine intervention and serendipity which includes a GQ magazine and a feature highlighting popular Master Perfumers (or “Noses”) around the world. Being skilled and interested in chemistry and all forms of arts, my curiosity was drawn to perfumery being a literal art and science, and I dove deep into the history and mechanics of it all. Though we currently sell fine fragrances for all, we have ostentatious visions of entering other industries and bringing the MP charm and energy to the world in many different ways.
To many people’s surprise, I earned my Bachelor of Science degree in Applied Mathematics, with minors in Entrepreneurship and Global Studies (International Finance) from UCLA. I also have conducted AI research at the University of Michigan focusing on natural language processing (NLP) and semantic analysis. All of this has led me to my career in venture capital where I also indulge in investing in other promising founders and businesses.
We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?
I unlearned the toxic idea of extreme growth immediately. After my first year of operation, I learned that you don’t have to grow too quickly. As young, small businesses, the idea of hypergrowth is often preached to us. It’s the pinnacle for founders! But, it’s unsustainable. It has also demonstrated to be an unnecessary stressor in my life and my company’s fortitude.
Realizing I am in control of how fast I want my company to scale – whether in the number of products we launch, the number of retail clients we receive, the number of customers and orders, or the number of stores that carry our fragrances – gave me peace of mind. It allowed me to own the narrative, so to speak. There’s not really an outside pressure or external perspective to reach a certain goal; that’s all on me.
By growing sustainably, I’ve been able to prioritize being profitable first which is significant for a small business. We owe no one. Now, we identify creative ways to continue expanding MATTEO PARFUMS and what the future holds.
Do you have any stories of times when you almost missed payroll or any other near death experiences for your business?
For a moment in 2021 I was unsure if MATTEO PARFUMS would “make it.” We weren’t receiving as many orders as we projected for that quarter and the times felt somewhat at a halt. There was a (thankfully) short-lived thought to quietly close the business and simply say it was a fun ride. By doing so, I would then redirect all my energy to maybe graduate studies, an international fellowship, change careers, basically do some major pivot. But that negative thought fortunately left my mind and instead I placed a deadline for myself: to give myself one year to turn things around.
My prayers were answered. 2022 started off on a high note almost immediately and continued all year long! We were contacted by major publications and featured across GQ, Allure, NPR, and the NY Times. We also had several pop-up shop appearances with excellent sales, new leads and followers, which have introduced us to new audiences. Now we’re carried internationally in 5 different countries. MATTEO PARFUMS was also notably nominated for a fragrance industry award, the Art and Olfaction Awards, which catapulted us and our reputation within the niche and fine fragrance communities. 
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.matteoparfums.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/matteoparfums/
- Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/matteoparfums/