THE EXPERIENCE was surreal. Jeff Raider and Andy Katz- Mayfield, the co-founders and co-CEOs of the trendy grooming-products startup Harry’s, were wearing suits and ties. They were surrounded by lawyers. And they had just experienced an hourslong grilling by antitrust regulators in a room at the Federal Trade Commission headquarters in Washington, D.C., a hulking limestone edifice on Pennsylvania Avenue. Their apparent sin: competing too well against razor giant Gillette.
Isn’t antitrust law supposed to work the other way?
Raider and Katz-Mayfield launched the New York City-based Harry’s in 2013 with the seemingly improbable idea of taking on not only Gillette but also Schick, two enormous brands owned by consumer packaged goods conglomerates that together controlled some 90 percent of the men’s shaving market at the time. Using a direct-to-consumer model initially, Harry’s became a player in shaving, with nearly 7 percent of U.S. nondisposable-razor sales in 2019.
Emboldened, Harry’s launched other personal-care brands and attacked its bigger rivals on their own turf, at retail stores such as Target and Walmart. This kind of accomplishment would have looked unthinkable to anyone familiar with the personal-care aisles a decade earlier. In just a few years, Harry’s, along with another DTC disrupter, Dollar Shave Club (acquired by Unilever for $1 billion in 2016), had helped slice Gillette’s share to around 50 percent, from north of 70.
この記事は Inc. の Winter 2020 - 2021 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
すでに購読者です ? サインイン
この記事は Inc. の Winter 2020 - 2021 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
すでに購読者です? サインイン
Karen Dillon
I moved my wedding to attend a company offsite. It was a terrible decision, but a vital lesson on balance.
The Ultimate Home-Based Business
Thirty years since her breakout on Friends, Courteney Cox is taking on a new role-entrepreneur.
An Uphill Battle
Zwift has been through layoffs and a leadership change in 2024, but co-founder and CEO Eric Min says he's learned that building a startup, like cycling, is an endurance test.
The GLOW UP
How Glossier broke free from DTC, survived the skeptics, and finally achieved profitability.
The Snack That Gives Back
With a new partnership, SkinnyDipped is supporting women founders worldwide.
A New Path to SuCCESS
AllTrails may have achieved the impossible-an app that truly helps you get away from it all.
The Back-lash Survivors
Don't challenge Elizabeth Gore and Carolyn Rodz to a game of highs and lows. The Hello Alice co-founders will win-by a long shot.
The Spa Surge
Prime IV Hydration & Wellness has successfully weathered stormy waters.
Riding the Waves
With Beehiiv, Tyler Denk built a buzzy newsletter platform and a brash online persona. Both are lucrative.
Home Economics
How Chairish brought the circular economy to furniture.