DSC fitted Venrock’s investment strategy because it has “very high” profit margins; is in a “zero-sum market,” where people switch from a competitor; and is in a category where incumbents “sell only through retailers and have no direct relationship with their actual customers,” Pakman added.
But success in an upstart business often means a strong reaction from the dominant brand, Pakman told “The Brave Ones”. “We were dismissed early on as inconsequential in the market. We were ridiculed for thinking that we could ship a razor that would be liked by consumers. We were eventually sued. And then we were copied.”
In December 2015, Gillette filed a lawsuit against DSC for patent infringement, including for a blade coating used on some of its razors, but that didn’t stop DSC from overtaking it in online sales.
Each brand had a third of the U. market in June 2014, and by August that year DSC had overtaken its P&G rival, according to Slice Intelligence. As of February 2017, Dubin’s company had grown to 47.3 percent of the online market, more than double Gillette’s 23. But the rivalry is hotting up: In May, Gillette announced an on-demand razor service where customers text to order, after launching its own online shaving club in June 2015, while the upscale Harry’s shaving club now has 12 percent of the online shaving market in the U. So will Unilever’s big bet pay off?.
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