The Dollar Shave Club raised over $US1 million in seed funding to start up in the United States after it was launched by chief executive and founder Michael Dubin through a YouTube video in April 2011.
The video, which shows Dubin riding a forklift, playing tennis and dancing with a bear has received more than seven million views, and The Dollar Shave Club signed up 12,000 customers in its first 48 hours.
{qtube vid:=ZUG9qYTJMsI}
Now the Dollar Shave Club has launched in Australia and Dubin talked to SmartCompany about how he spotted the opportunity for his business, the mistakes he has made and the figures he looks at every day.
Owner and founder: Dollar Shave Club
Age: 34
Based: Venice, California, United States.
If you ask most guys how they feel about buying razors, most of them will tell you that they’re frustrated with two things – the price, and the awful experience of going to buy them at the store.
It’s a lot of time and it’s a lot of money for something that’s so integral to our daily lives as guys so I wanted to create a business where we could save guys time and money on their razors.
I think when investors evaluate opportunities they are looking for a couple of things. Number one, they’re looking for a big market, and most guys shave with some frequency. So the market was there.
Then they look for a problem, and I think that the problem which I just laid out is pretty clear: it’s a pain in the butt to go buy your razors in the store and they’re very expensive.
The third thing investors look for is leadership. They ask “is the team that’s proposing to solve the challenge the right team for the job?” I have ten years’ experience in media, marketing, and brand development, and I’ve surrounded myself with very accomplished eCommerce and digital product professionals and operators.
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Cara Waters is a former SmartCompany editor. Previously, Cara was a senior reporter for the Financial Times’ website and worked for The Sunday Times in London.
