No. 317: The DTC Playbook Is a Trap

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

And then — especially in the business press — because it furthered the narrative that even the hugest of consumer goods companies, long stuck in codependent relationships with the hugest of retailers, would start trying to sell more of their products direct.