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I think you raise a valid point overall, which is that a lot of VC money gets invested very quickly into businesses with unproven models. That, in and of itself
by jonnathanson 14y ago
I think you raise a valid point overall, which is that a lot of VC money gets invested very quickly into businesses with unproven models. That, in and of itself, is a real problem. Ralph Lauren started his multibillion-dollar clothing empire as a door to door tie salesman. He built his business one store sale at a time. Why can't today's entrepreneurs in the clothing space start small and grow organically? Is a startup in the bra market really in need of tens of millions of dollars in order to hit necessary traction? Is rapid, overnight growth really the best way to build a clothing brand? All very reasonable inquiries.
That said -- and I say this as respectfully as possible -- you're applying 20/20 hindsight in many of your examples. Fact: many women in this country, perhaps even a majority, have bras that don't fit correctly. Fact: women's boobs are highly variable, and do not actually fit into the standard cup size / chest size system that we've been using for the last 50 years. (An algorithm may be an over-engineered way to approach this problem, but the current model is far from perfect). Fact: men's razors are ridiculously expensive, and the razor & blades model is ripe for disruption. Theory (perhaps more viable than you might think): curated boxes of goods may, indeed, drive lead-generation and discovery, opening up new markets for apparel and home furnishings businesses.
I don't think it's remotely fair to look at the present-day struggles of companies like Dollar Shave Club or Trunk Club and declare, ipso facto, that their business models are fundamentally unsound. Perhaps their business operations are unsound. Perhaps their business strategies are unsound. Perhaps even wildly so. But the addressable markets seem reasonable in both cases.
Finally, I think you're cherry picking some examples and using them to draw a larger condemnation of the whole system. If we're going to declare that the system is rotten, then we need to begin with a macro-level evaluation of the system.
- deleted 14y ago[deleted]
- prostoalex 14y agoOld debate of fast vs slow growth. spolsky: http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/fog0000000056.html http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/fog0000000056.html pg: http://paulgraham.com/growth.html http://paulgraham.com/growth.html
- jacoblyles 14y agoIt does seem that VCs have a bias towards funding business models that are popular in the valley, even if they haven't been proven yet. The subscription box o' crap is a model being used by dozens of startups, but I can't think of any that is really successful.
- fennecfoxen 14y agoWell, the subscription box model is working out okay for the likes of Tonx (coffee - http://tonx.org http://tonx.org - and delicious coffee at that) but I'm not aware that they're trying to go the Silicon Valley venture-capital startup route at all.
- homosaur 14y agoTonx really does provide a product that is passion driven though. Most people are not passionate about new razors or underwear or toilet paper. You're glad to have it but you have little emotional attachment in the way of something like coffee.
- Resident_Geek 14y agoA small bit of evidence to the contrary: http://www.reddit.com/r/coffee http://www.reddit.com/r/coffee: 35,566 subscribers http://www.reddit.com/r/Wicked_edge http://www.reddit.com/r/Wicked_edge: 26,612 subscribers
- graue 14y agoWow, this looks great, only I'm a tea drinker... is anyone trying to do this for tea?
- rdl 14y agoI just go to uptontea and buy based on what is on special at the time, which works pretty well. I have a few real preferences, so "box o crap" wouldn't work as well for me.
- 14y ago
- jspthrowaway2 14y ago> the razor & blades model is ripe for disruption Bordering off topic, but the smart people realize that you don't need to throw away your blades every time they get dull; that model is only successful because people don't realize you can restore a set of blades to service with a few minutes and some jeans. So, you could say I've already disrupted it just in my own life, and the wider dissemination of that knowledge would just disrupt it further.
- ry0ohki 14y agoThis is partly why I didn't "get" Dollar Shave Club. I buy a pack of 52 disposable razors from Costco, really decent ones: http://www2.costco.com/Browse/Product.aspx?Prodid=11093041&whse=BD_767&topnav=bdoff&cat=73510&hierPath=73502*&lang=en-US http://www2.costco.com/Browse/Product.aspx?Prodid=11093041&#... and it's $30 for basically one razor per week for a year. I don't really see any room to improve on this.
- mattmanser 14y agoThey don't look really decent. They look like crap. I've tried those type of razors and they're horrible, can't even do one shave if I've left it a week. If you're an intermittent shaver like me or someone with thick hair I bet they suck.
- joering2 14y agoBut this is your opinion. I love the one he linked to and did not know about that they are so cheap at Costco. What he and you prove as a point is that to him Costco deal is perfect while your "thick hair" it too thick to save money with Costco. So the Dollar Shave Club will be perfect for you (to save money) and useless to him. Therefore, the DSC will never scale well enough because people like me or OP will never have a thick hair :)
- ry0ohki 14y agoSo use one a week and chuck it, wasteful, but still cheaper then dollar shave's similar model. edit I thought you meant "leave the razor a week" but I think you mean leave your beard a week on second reading.