You don’t need a better product to succeed in D2C

startups with highly differentiated products, rather than incrementally differentiated products, were more likely to succeed. The reason for such a strong variance may be that it’s only when substantial differentiation exists that customers are willing to give up a trusted brand or deal with the switching costs to try a new product. A radically dif

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The promise of the internet has always been a low barrier to entry enabling unique people and brands to find passionate audiences and sustainable business models. That is more possible now through the combination of direct distribution, vertical focus and (often) direct monetization models. But the brands that can pull off DTC strategies need to be... See more

Think about distribution from day one

If you’re going to build a product, you want people to use it. But far too often, founders get drawn to the building and tinkering side of the business, forgoing the go-to-market piece until they’re actually ready to get out and sell.

That’s a mistake, says Foster. “I think one of the biggest things that founder... See more

1. Build a product so good that customers will use you over an incumbent. Build a large user base on the back of this first product. 2. Be aggressive rather than complacent about customer growth early. Outsized companies like Google, Facebook, and Uber were aggressive and calculating about growth from their earliest days. In contrast, non-metric-drive

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Anyone who can predict demand more accurately, test more nimbly, and dial up production of popular SKUs faster than others, thereby reducing waste, inefficiencies and markdowns, will hold a huge advantage over competitors.