Question 1

What is Genie?

Accepted Answer

Genie is the first AI that can create real consumer products. Indie founders, creators, and influencers come to Genie with an idea and walk away with a manufacturer-ready custom formula and a path to production. You pitch an idea, work with Genie to research the market and build a real custom formula, get it chemist-reviewed, and we match you with the right contract manufacturer to bring it to market.

Question 2

What product categories does Genie support?

Accepted Answer

Genie supports custom formulation across skincare and beauty, color cosmetics, fragrance, sunscreen, deodorant, intimate care, pet grooming, pet supplements, non-alcoholic beverages, alcoholic beverages, supplements, food and snacks, sauces and condiments, home care, candles, CBD topicals, and CBD ingestibles. Each category has specialized formulation logic, an ingredient database, and category-specific regulatory awareness.

Question 3

How does AI-driven formulation work?

Accepted Answer

You chat with Genie about what you want to build. Genie generates a complete custom formula with INCI ingredient names, percentages, functional roles, phase breakdowns, and manufacturing instructions. You can iterate by conversation: adjust percentages, swap ingredients, refine based on your target COGS or texture. Every formula draws on a 180,000-row ingredient database with chemistry data, and is structured for real-world manufacturing.

Question 4

What is COGS modeling?

Accepted Answer

COGS (Cost of Goods Sold) modeling lets you estimate per-unit production costs before talking to a manufacturer. Genie breaks down raw material costs, packaging assumptions, and margin scenarios, so you understand your unit economics upfront. At $5 retail vs $25 retail, you'll see whether your formula actually pencils.

Question 5

What does it mean to own your formula?

Accepted Answer

When your formula feels solid, Own Your Formula ($1,500 one-time, per formula) is how you take it anywhere. A licensed chemist reviews the formulation for stability and compatibility, and you get a manufacturing-ready tech pack you can hand to any contract manufacturer on the planet. It is yours. No lock-in, no platform tax. And if you decide to produce with Genie, that $1,500 is credited toward your production run.

Question 6

Does Genie replace a chemist?

Accepted Answer

No. Genie's AI does the formulation work; licensed chemists in our network review every formula before it goes to market. The AI accelerates the work; the chemist is the quality layer. For any product going to market, a chemist review is non-negotiable, and that is why it is built into Own Your Formula and into every production run.

Question 7

Is Genie a private label marketplace?

Accepted Answer

No. Private label uses pre-existing formulas off a catalog. Genie creates a real custom formula owned by you. You hold the IP. You decide the brand, the positioning, the packaging, the price. Genie is just the development partner.

Question 8

Is Genie a contract manufacturer?

Accepted Answer

Genie develops the product; contract manufacturers produce it. When you ask Genie to make your product, we match you to the right CM from a network of 95+ verified manufacturers based on category, MOQ, certifications, and location, then coordinate the run on your behalf. You stay the brand; the CM stays the factory. Genie develops, CMs produce.

Question 9

How is Genie different from using ChatGPT for formulation?

Accepted Answer

Generic AI generates plausible text. Genie generates a real formula validated against a 180,000-row ingredient database, INCI conventions, regulatory constraints, and a chemist correction loop, then encodes it into a tech pack a manufacturer can quote from. Plus when you're ready, a licensed chemist reviews the formula and Genie either produces it for you with a vetted manufacturer or hands you a tech pack to take to your own. ChatGPT can describe a product; Genie helps you actually make one.

Question 10

How much does Genie cost?

Accepted Answer

Building with Genie is free. Unlimited AI chat, unlimited formula generation, and the full ingredient breakdown with exact percentages on every formula you create. Nothing about your formula is gated or blurred. You only pay when you are ready to do something real with it. Own Your Formula is $1,500 one-time per formula for a chemist-reviewed, manufacturing-ready tech pack you can take to any manufacturer, and it is credited toward production if you make it with Genie. Produce is when Genie makes the product for you: you pick a quantity, we confirm a manufacturer and a real per-unit price, and you taste or test samples before a single run happens, priced per order. Compared with the $5,000 to $30,000 a custom formulation traditionally costs, founders build the whole thing for free and only spend money the moment a real product is on the line.

Question 11

How much does it cost to make my product?

Accepted Answer

It depends on what you are making and how much of it, so Genie tells you the real number before you ever pay. When you are ready to produce, you pick a quantity and Genie confirms the right manufacturer and a real per-unit price for your formula. Nothing is charged until that quote is confirmed. You taste or test physical samples first, and only once you are happy do we run production. No mystery markups, no surprise minimums, just the actual cost of making your product for real.

Question 12

Who is Genie built for?

Accepted Answer

Indie brand founders building their first product line, creators and influencers launching under their own label, and growth brands expanding into a new category. The founders building with Genie today are hip, mission-driven, and creator-led. If you have a product idea and you're tired of being told 'go find a chemist and a CM,' Genie is for you.

Question 13

How do I get started?

Accepted Answer

Just go to madebygenie.com and start chatting. No signup needed to try it. When you're ready to keep building, sign up free for unlimited chat, unlimited formula generation, and the full ingredient breakdown with exact percentages on every formula. You only pay when you decide to own your formula or produce it for real.

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