Again, DTC companies almost certainly have higher cost structures than a website, and do get some sort of returns from scale, but those returns are limited; this is where it seems Softbank specifically went wrong. Indeed, this is the broader takeaway from Softbank’s investments: what characterizes the Vision Fund’s mistakes in case after case is a ... See more

Somehow, despite massive secular shifts and a lot of noise about rising ecommerce penetration, the DTC products themselves have produced only one billion dollar outcome: Dollar Shave Club (two if you count Harry’s).