Member Brief: The TCG Timeline

Our tastes are ever more niche. We gravitate towards communities and brands, or both, that cater to our niche tastes. Tracksmith, Telfar, Crown Affair or FatherFoods are some of the examples. In this micro-taste communities’ landscape, mass fashion brands come across as too generic and superficial. The winning growth strategy instead is to go deep ... See more

I think this drives at a more fundamental failing by Brandless in particular, that is likely true broadly: the company’s cost structure was completely unsuited for DTC. My strong suspicion — admittedly biased, given Stratechery’s business model — is that the biggest opportunities in DTC are in niches, and the best way to exploit those niches is by ... See more

It goes without saying that I’m bearish on DNVBs as a whole. As a whole, the industry tends to rely upon left-brain operators with systems and definite plans. But, I’m bullish on the challenger brands who’ve figured out that winning is often a result of rewriting the playbook. For the brands looking to grow to (efficient) critical mass or even an e... See more

Digital has led to market fragmentation in nearly everything. Reduced opportunity costs have spawned a plethora of Direct to Consumer (DTC) brands which will continue for the foreseeable future. Small niche startups will continue to build followings and “tribes” in ways that couldn’t have been imagined in the pre-internet era.

So the choice is now: “I’m going to find this niche obscure thing, or I’ll get the mass market thing.” It’s either Paul Skallas or Malcolm Gladwell. Aesop Rock or ASAP Rocky. Boutique brand or Amazon. You get the idea.

The next generation of brands will still start with the story, but the other moats (logistics, distribution, sponsorships, etc) wither from there. We’ll see the next generation of “DTC” (direct to consumer) brands migrate to traditional retail channels, join large cross-brand data co-ops, shift marketing dollars to community management, and generat... See more