"You Have to Be Patient and Confident in What You're Doing" -- Ross Goodhart, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Jupiter

Podcast

Co-Founder and Co-CEO, Jupiter

RG

Ross Goodhart

Co-Founder and Co-CEO, Jupiter

Ross Goodhart is the co-founder and co-CEO of Jupiter, the first premium scalp care brand bringing luxury-level formulations to the dandruff category. He grew up in Oahu and holds a BBA from the University of Michigan's Ross School of Business. Before Jupiter, he spent over 12 years in finance and private equity, including as a principal at Siguler Guff and COO of Russia Partners, a billion-dollar fund investing across Russia and Eastern Europe. He built and sold a portfolio of Amazon consumer brands under his holding company Rohego before co-founding Jupiter in 2018. Jupiter launched at Bergdorf Goodman in 2020, expanded to 1,100 Target stores, achieved 115% year-over-year sales growth, raised a $3 million seed round in 2024, and has built a team that is majority women, reflecting its predominantly female consumer base. Ross is based in Los Angeles.

1,100

Target stores carrying Jupiter

115%

Year-over-year sales growth

60 years

Since the last real innovation in the dandruff category

27K

Bottles of shampoo stolen in a single incident turned into a viral marketing campaign

Time Topic
00:00 Rapid fire -- A Shopify refresh addiction, a newborn daughter, Florence as a dream city, and the purist who has not switched to pickleball
05:00 Growing up in Oahu -- New York parents who moved before he was born, cousins who functioned as siblings, and why his parents pushed him to leave Hawaii and think bigger
10:00 University of Michigan and banking -- A campus visit with his dad where they both knew immediately, the trial-by-fire logic behind choosing investment banking, and "work hard now, play later"
16:00 Private equity and Russia Partners -- How a junior analyst at Siguler Guff became the person responsible for the oldest PE firm in Russia, traveling there 10 times a year, and earning credibility through relentless presence
21:00 The side hustle that became Rohego -- Whipped cream dispensers and crème brûlée torches on Amazon, a pizza cutter sold to his parents in Hawaii, and what data-driven consumer brand building looks like before there is a brand
27:00 The Jupiter origin story -- Two guys independently identifying the same gap, a fake brand called Headway to test demand, 75% female participants in a unisex concept test, and why the name connects to a storm that has been brewing for 300 years
33:00 Bergdorf Goodman to 1,100 Targets -- Why the luxury launch was about brand validation rather than volume, how they resisted Target's overtures for years until they were ready, and the full-price discipline that defines the brand
37:00 Lifestyle causes of dandruff nobody talks about -- Diet, stress, travel, sleep, water quality, and why a champagne glass or a bag of candy can trigger a flare
40:00 27,000 stolen bottles and the shampoo heist campaign -- What fuels Ross, naysayers, and the customer review that says they tried everything and nothing worked until Jupiter

Oahu, Michigan, and the PE Career That Was Always a Means to an End

Ross Goodhart grew up in Oahu, the son of two New Yorkers who moved to Hawaii before he was born. His parents were driven people who loved where they had landed but believed the island was too small a stage for what their son could accomplish. They pushed him to leave. He had cousins who were three, nine, and ten years older than him who functioned as siblings, and an expanded family that spent three or four evenings a week together, which gave him early comfort operating around people significantly older than himself. He was into soccer, tennis, hiking, and anything water-related. He was not a typical Hawaii kid in the sense that his orientation was always outward.

He and his father did a college campus tour, visiting UT Austin, UCLA, UNC, and Michigan. When they walked across the Michigan campus, both of them looked at each other. That was it. At Michigan's business school, he immediately gravitated toward investment banking, not because he fully understood what it was but because the logic appealed to him: if you can survive banking, you can do anything. The working philosophy his father gave him was simple: work hard now, play later. It stuck. He changed printer toner cartridges in the middle of the night. He did not expect to use that skill. He expected to learn what it meant to care about outcomes regardless of whether any task was beneath you.

"I always found that PE is a bit different than banking in that banking, you can advise a company on what they should do. And if it works or it doesn't work, you get paid. Private equity is just a different mindset. You do things for the long term."
-- Ross Goodhart

He moved from banking into private equity at Siguler Guff partly because his father became ill and he needed more schedule flexibility, partly because he wanted a closer relationship to outcomes. He ended up as the most junior person at the firm focused on Russia Partners, the oldest private equity fund in Russia, traveling there 10 times a year, earning credibility among a senior team that initially questioned why he was there by simply working longer than anyone else and then delivering investment successes his mentor Drew Guff could praise publicly. He eventually became COO of Russia Partners, overseeing a billion-dollar fund. He spent 12 and a half years in finance. The whole time, he knew he would eventually do something of his own.

Whipped Cream Dispensers, a Fake Brand Called Headway, and the Storm on Jupiter's Head

The transition from institutional finance to consumer brand building happened first as a side hustle. While still at Siguler Guff, Ross started using data to identify underserved product categories on Amazon, improving on what was already selling, and launching under his holding company Rohego, named from his middle name Ross Henri. His parents in Hawaii bought his first product, a pizza cutter and spatula combined. Someone in North Dakota bought one after that. He became the leading Amazon seller of whipped cream dispensers and crème brûlée torches. He acquired a magnifying glass brand. He built and eventually sold the portfolio of brands to an Amazon aggregator in 2021. The experience gave him what private equity had not: direct responsibility for whether something lived or died based entirely on his own decisions.

Jupiter began when Ross independently identified the dandruff category as a massive unmet opportunity at the same time his future co-founder Robbie was reaching the same conclusion from a different direction. A mutual friend introduced them. They created a fake brand called Headway before raising any money, built a website, launched ads, and asked potential customers what they were missing: cleaner ingredients, products safe for color-treated hair, elevated scent profiles, and packaging they would be proud to have in their shower. Seventy-five percent of the test participants were women, in a concept they had designed to be unisex. That number has held. Jupiter's consumer base is now approximately 80% female.

"I knew there had to be something better from both a branding and formulation perspective."
-- Ross Goodhart

The name Jupiter came from a branding agency but took on meaning as they researched it. Jupiter is the god of gods, who brought order to chaos. The planet Jupiter protects Earth from asteroids and meteorites because of its size, a.k.a. space flakes. The storm visible on Jupiter's surface has been brewing for more than 300 years. Ross uses the storm as an internal brand rallying point: there has been a storm brewing on this category for a very long time, and there is no reason a dandruff brand cannot be something people are genuinely proud to reach for.

Bergdorf Goodman to Target, and the 27,000 Bottles Stolen and Turned Into a Campaign

Jupiter launched at Bergdorf Goodman in 2020, not because the luxury retailer was going to drive meaningful volume but because it would prove something: that a dandruff product could live in a prestige beauty environment without apology. The brand has been mentioned in every major editorial as a top dandruff product. Ross and his co-founder Robbie resisted Target's interest for years, waiting until the brand and product were ready for that level of exposure and the scrutiny that comes with retail shelf presence. When they finally launched in Target, they were in 1,100 stores. The company has achieved 115% year-over-year sales growth and raised a $3 million seed round in 2024.

There was a moment last year that tested everything. Twenty-seven thousand bottles of Jupiter shampoo were stolen in a single incident. Ross describes sitting with his team and making a decision: they could treat this as a disaster, or they could turn it into something. They turned it into a shampoo heist marketing campaign. It generated viral traction on TikTok. Ross says this is the kind of moment that defines a brand team, and the decision was not complicated once they saw it clearly: if you cannot have fun with adversity, it will grind you down.

"You have to be patient and you have to be confident in what you're doing. The vast majority require consistent hard work, dedication to it, and just trust that you have a reason to exist."
-- Ross Goodhart

Ross is also direct about the stigma the brand is working against. There has been no meaningful innovation in the dandruff category in 60 years. Head and Shoulders and a handful of competitors have dominated the mass market with products that work but that people keep out of sight, that contain ingredients that are good for the scalp but hard on the hair, and that nobody wants to reach for in front of a guest. Fifty to seventy-five percent of people will experience dandruff at some point in their lives. The female consumer in particular, who cares deeply about the health of her scalp but also about shine, volume, and frizz, has had no elevated option. Jupiter is built for her, with a team that reflects that: the majority of both the overall team and the leadership team are women, which Ross describes as a non-negotiable for a brand selling predominantly to women.

5 Key Takeaways

🧪

Test demand with a fake brand before raising a dollar

Before raising any money for Jupiter, Ross and co-founder Robbie created a fake brand called Headway, built a website, launched ads, and interviewed potential customers about what they actually wanted. The exercise revealed that 75% of demand was from women in a concept designed as unisex, which fundamentally shaped the brand they built.

🏪

Launch in prestige to validate category, not to generate volume

Ross chose Bergdorf Goodman as Jupiter's launch retailer not because it would drive meaningful sales but because it demonstrated that a dandruff product could occupy a prestige beauty shelf. That validation created the foundation for eventually entering 1,100 Target stores with brand credibility intact.

👥

Build your team to reflect your consumer, not your founding team

Jupiter was started by two men solving a problem they personally experienced, then discovered it was primarily a women's problem. Ross responded by building a team that is majority women at every level, including leadership, because he recognized that he and his co-founder would never understand the female consumer as well as the consumer herself.

📊

Financial discipline is a brand protection strategy

Ross was explicit with wholesale partners from the beginning that Jupiter would run a full-price business, that core products would not go on sale, and that he could not control who they sold to in the future but could decide who he would sell to. Keeping the brand full-price has been as important as the product itself in maintaining the prestige positioning.

😤

Patience and confidence outlast viral wins

Ross is direct that quick viral success is rare and that most brands require years of consistent hard work and a genuine reason to exist. He treats this as the operating philosophy behind Jupiter's growth, not a consolation prize for not going viral overnight.

Ross Goodhart Jupiter Scalp Care Dandruff Brand Consumer Brand What Fuels You Shauna Swerland Fuel Talent Private Equity Siguler Guff University of Michigan Amazon Brands Bergdorf Goodman Target DTC Brand Beauty Industry Haircare Oahu Hawaii Los Angeles Entrepreneurship Finance to Founder

Frequently Asked Questions

Who is Ross Goodhart and what is Jupiter?

Ross Goodhart is the co-founder and co-CEO of Jupiter, the first premium scalp care brand to bring luxury-level formulations to the dandruff category. Jupiter launched at Bergdorf Goodman in 2020, expanded to 1,100 Target stores, achieved 115% year-over-year sales growth, and raised a $3 million seed round in 2024. Before Jupiter, Ross spent over 12 years in finance and private equity including as COO of Russia Partners, a billion-dollar fund, then built and sold a portfolio of Amazon consumer brands before co-founding Jupiter with his business partner Robbie.

How did Jupiter come up with its name?

Ross Goodhart explained on What Fuels You that Jupiter was developed with a branding agency with the goal of finding a name that was strong, widely recognized, and unused in the category. As they researched the mythology and science, the connections became meaningful: Jupiter is the god of gods who brought order to chaos, the planet Jupiter protects Earth from meteorites because of its size, and the visible storm on Jupiter's surface has been brewing for more than 300 years. Ross uses that last detail internally as a brand reference: there has been a problem brewing in this category for decades, and Jupiter is built to address it.

What lifestyle factors cause dandruff that most people don't know about?

On What Fuels You, Ross Goodhart explained that while some dandruff is genetically driven, affecting roughly 18% of sufferers, the majority of cases are tied to lifestyle factors that most people do not associate with scalp health. These include diet (especially sugar consumption), stress, travel, inadequate sleep, and the quality of water in your environment. He noted that alcohol consumption, including a glass of champagne, can trigger a flare, and that the common assumption that dandruff is caused by poor hygiene is simply incorrect.

How did Jupiter test the market before launching?

Before raising any outside capital, Ross Goodhart and his co-founder created a fake brand called Headway, built a website, launched digital ads, and engaged directly with potential customers about what was missing in the dandruff category. The exercise confirmed demand for cleaner formulations, products safe for color-treated hair, elevated scent profiles, and packaging that felt appropriate for a bathroom vanity. Crucially, it also revealed that 75% of participants were women in a concept the founders had designed as unisex, which led them to explicitly position Jupiter to serve the female consumer who had been largely ignored by the category.

What happened when 27,000 bottles of Jupiter shampoo were stolen?

Ross Goodhart described on What Fuels You that late in 2024, 27,000 bottles of Jupiter shampoo were stolen in a single incident. Rather than treating it purely as an operational crisis, the team decided to turn it into a marketing campaign. The shampoo heist campaign generated significant traction on TikTok and gave the brand a viral moment built around humor and resilience. Ross uses it as an example of the mindset required to build a consumer brand over time: if you cannot find a way to have fun with adversity, it will grind you down.