DTC Startups Disrupting Traditional Brands

This post was originally published on VC Cafe.

Direct-To-Consumer, or DTC in short, are products or services that are financed, designed, produced, marketed, distributed and sold by the same company. They bypass the middleman and connect directly to consumers. Others call them Digitally-Native Vertically-Integrated brands (DNVB).

Selection of the top DTC brands in the US — Source: IAB

The appeal is simple — avoiding the retail markup enables DTC startups to offer a combination of better design, qual­ity, service, and lower prices. Examples are plenty, but perhaps the most iconic ones are DTC eyeglass company Warby Parker, Dollar Shave Club or Casper mattresses. Many of them call themselves the “Uber of X” or the “Warby Parker for Y”. From fashion to food, new DTC startups are popping up on a daily basis.

While VCs invested over $3 billion into DTC startups since 2012, In a recent Economist article Kirsten Green of Forerunner Ventures, an early investor in companies like Bonobos summarised the challenge for upstarts DTC brands:

“The challenge is rising above the noise”

It’s never been easier to start…

Compared to a few years ago, it’s never been easier to start a direct to consumer company. Consider these factors: