The Fatal Flaw of The DTC Playbook & The Search for Internet Diamonds

As one brand leaves its curiosity gap open for a particular consumer, another comparable brand is able to swoop in and fill the gap quickly thus acquiring the customer away from their competition. Over long periods this dissonance and operational thrash fracture both the customers’ contract and affinity with the brand.

The optics of successful liquidity events for Blue Nile, Zullily, Chewy and Zappos, and the incredible traction in the 2000s of The GAP as a public vertical consumer brand established meaningful consumer business outcomes. These potential to repeat history through a new crop of Direct to Consumer upstarts paired well with the pent up venture capita... See more

The most critical path towards sustained growth is through Learning Cycles. Each time the cycle iterates, the outcome is improved. The faster the cycle iterates, the more dramatic the improvement is over time.