Sometimes you just can’t compete on the product. And that’s okay.
Michael Dubin built a razor brand with a better story.
Back in 2012, the shaving aisle was a scam. Plastic boxes locked behind glass, $25 refills, fake “microflex” jargon.
Dubin, a guy with a camera and a script, basically said:
“This is stupid. Here’s a razor that costs a dollar.”
That video cost $4,500 and tt crashed their website in hours.
12,000 subscribers in 2 days. And 5 years later, Unilever bought Dollar Shave Club for a billion dollars.
So how does a nobody with no product innovation beat a global monopoly?
Ladies and gentlemen, it’s positioning.
#1. He Reframed the Real Problem
Gillette sold “the perfect shave.” But Dubin sold relief from overpriced nonsense. That’s the power of reframing is not to invent pain but to name it better.
#2. He Picked a Villain
Every strong brand needs someone to push against. For Dubin, it was the corporate excess (flexballs, the markups, the marketing fluff…). He just permitted people to laugh at it (and the inevitable trust you built).
#3. He Made the Model the Message
Their direct-to-consumer subscription was both a business move and a brand promise. They chucked retail, middlemen, or any price games. That’s the sweet spot between strategy and positioning when how you sell is what you stand for.
#4. He Earned Investor Confidence by Being Simple
Investors certainly fund products, but they also fund clarity. Dubin could explain his business in one line: ‘Razors for a dollar, delivered to your door.’
He had the golden 3: Traction, A viral story, and a Scalable model. That clarity pulled in $1M in seed funding, then $9.8M in Series A, and $12M in Series B, before the billion-dollar exit (to Uniliver).
The point I’m trying to make here is that sometimes you don’t need to out-engineer Gillette (aka your competitor). Sometimes you just need to outframe them.
Have a good day! 😉