Unilever buys Dollar Shave Club for One Billion Dollars

[RHL]

http://fortune.com/2016/07/19/unilever-buys-dollar-shave-club-for-1-billion/

DSC was founded five years ago, almost to the day.

The company did around $145,000,000 in sales last year, and has yet to be "profitable."

In the same span, an employee working at a decent desk job might bring in $300,000. Before taxes.

Looks like another person will be buying a Bugatti and posting the pics.

I hope it's somebody here next time.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[ZCP]

think they had a step by step or were just lucky?

 

[Scot]

http://fortune.com/2016/07/19/unilever-buys-dollar-shave-club-for-1-billion/

DSC was founded five years ago, almost to the day.

The company did around $145,000,000 in sales last year, and has yet to be "profitable."

In the same span, an employee working at a decent desk job might bring in $300,000. Before taxes.

Looks like another person will be buying a Bugatti and posting the pics.

I hope it's somebody here next time.

Damn! DSC and Warby Parker have been big inspirations for me. That's a pretty sexy buyout.

 

[RHL]

think they had a step by step or were just lucky?

I hope they post a comprehensive guide and don't leave anything out. I want to make a billion really bad, but I need to do it in 30 days or less, then I have to go back to school.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[mws87]

think they had a step by step or were just lucky?

Or "proven steps" that you can learn for $80 a month

 

[ZCP]

I don't really like sales or working too hard..... and my buddy told me shaving is on the out.....so it better be a comprehensive plan that someone can outsource for me....

My guess is they implemented 'go famous' just before selling......

 

[InspireHD]

From what I'm reading, Dollar Shave Club built their business around sourcing the razors. Pretty much the same thing that a lot of you guys are doing, sourcing your products/importing. They built their business around a product that was already made. They didn't redevelop the razor. It's pretty awesome when you think about the magnitude of what they did.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[ZCP]

On the flip side...... this is another case where huge marketing dollars and making people's life simpler paid off in spades to really accelerate the calendar of success.

 

[eTox]

Agh... lucky bastards, I came up with the idea long before they did! I should sue them and get the money I deserve, but first I need someone to sponsor me to get the lawyers. Kickstarter campaign?

Anyone in?

 

[RHL]

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Green Destiny]

I think this shows just how far great marketing can take you. $1 Billion for selling razor blades through the mail. Amazing.

 

[Tapp001]

Agh... lucky bastards, I came up with the idea long before they did! I should sue them and get the money I deserve, but first I need someone to sponsor me to get the lawyers. Kickstarter campaign?

Anyone in?

I believe this would be better. You should follow proper channels, after all.

 

[MJ DeMarco]

Meh, the dude would have done far better had he invested his paycheck in a balanced portfolio of mutual funds.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Scot]

Meh, the dude would have done far better had he invested his paycheck in a balanced portfolio of mutual funds.

Well now he can start his own mutual fund haha

 

[icon8]

Meh, the dude would have done far better had he invested his paycheck in a balanced portfolio of mutual funds.

Don't forget that 401K!

 

[Fox]

http://articles.latimes.com/2013/aug/16/business/la-fi-himi-dubin-20130818

Happy accident: The idea for Dollar Shave Club came at a holiday party in 2010, when Dubin met his future company's co-founder, Mark Levine, who was the father of a friend's fiancee. The two started talking razors. "I don't know how we got on the subject of shaving, but we started talking about what a rip-off it is,"

There are no good ideas left

Dubin said. Levine, whose background is in manufacturing, said he knew where to get affordable twin razor blades. The two realized that Dubin's experience in branding and digital marketing paired nicely with Levine's network, and they struck a deal.

Where can I get a step by step guide on importing stuff lol

Going for it: With Levine's assistance, Dubin began working on the company in January 2011. "He wanted to just sell razors on the Internet, but I wanted to build a brand," Dubin said. Levine helped connect Dubin with manufacturers to create the product. "I did the rest," he said. Dubin invested his life savings, about $35,000, to build the website, which launched in July 2011.

Yo whats the deal with setting up a wordpress site

He spent the first six months driving around trying to connect with media to spread the word. Dubin signed up his first 1,000 members without spending anything on marketing. "Then we made the video to attract even more investors," Dubin said.

What type of material is best for business cards?

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Mr.Chaos]

Lucky bastards.......I wonder what books they read to do this. Tony Robbins?
1 Billion dollars smh I cant even figure out what to name my LLC.

Rigged I tell ya. Rigged

 

[Fox]

I forget where I read it but he drove door to door signing up the first 1000 customers by himself.
1 by 1 till 1,000 customers himself.
By himself. 1,000 customers.
1,000.
Him.​

 

[ZCP]

What if he had given up after 7 houses.......

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Fox]

What if he had given up after 7 houses.......

I will just stuff these razor flyers in the mailbox and if no one calls then I guess I better try something else. ***recent thread alert***

 

[MJ DeMarco]

Amazing that it all started with him sitting at a bar and asking, "What's a good business to start for passive income?"

 

[Yoda]

You guys are wasting time.

Instead of laughing at all these old jokes, you could be out finding his secret sauce and make tens of billions in 12 months or less, guaranteed or your money back.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Mr.Chaos]

What if he had given up after 7 houses.......

You guys are wasting time.

Instead of laughing at all these old jokes, you could be out finding his secret sauce and make tens of billions in 12 months or less, guaranteed or your money back.

How much?

 

[JDx]

You guys are wasting time.

Instead of laughing at all these old jokes, you could be out finding his secret sauce and make tens of billions in 12 months or less, guaranteed or your money back.

 

[GuestUser450]

May we all build something that pisses off a major conglomerate so badly they need to acquire us.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[GuestUser450]

I forget where I read it but he drove door to door signing up the first 1000 customers by himself.

Funny how most big successes start with the 'narrow and deep' sales method of doing things that don't scale but make people brand advocates. One by one, brick by brick.

 

[RHL]

May we all build something that pisses off a major conglomerate so badly they need to acquire us.

This kind of disruption is a highly legitimate business strategy. All the business geniuses in the comments section of the various news sites reporting this are like "lol what a rip off it only made $150M last year!"

If you are new to market and sell product X and your competitor has been in the market for a long time and sells product X, and you sell product X for $5 and your competitor sells product X for $20, you making $150M in sales a year costs your rival roughly $600,000,000 a year.

That's why they got bought.

 

[juan917]

What I don't get is how the company didn't make a profit? If they didn't sell, would they still not be rich? They must have been able to live very well with those type of sales. Does not add up to me.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[MakeItHappen]

What I don't get is how the company didn't make a profit? If they didn't sell, would they still not be rich? They must have been able to live very well with those type of sales. Does not add up to me.

They did invest profits back into the business...
Amazon didn't turn a profit for something like 20 years straight.

 

[TonyStark]

This is something you really have to like. I don't care about shaving enough to try to change people's lives. Good for him tho.