Tuesday, March 6, 2012
Dollar Shave Club Launches Razor Subscription Service, With Kleiner Funding
There are few things in my life that seem less exciting than razors, but a new startup called The Dollar Shave Club wants to disrupt the market. And it has convinced some big names in the venture world, including Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and Andreessen Horowitz, to back its vision.
Dollar Shave Club is relaunching today and announcing that it’s the latest company to emerge from Science, Inc., the incubator whose partners include former MySpace CEO Mike Jones and Color co-founder Peter Pham. The basic model is simple — at pricing that starts at $1 per month (plus $2 for shipping and handling), customers get a monthly shipment of razors delivered to their home.
Founder and CEO Michael Durbin argues that the high-end of the market has gotten ridiculously overpriced, with “a vibrating handle, a back-scratcher, and all of that stuff.” On the low-end, he says that people with “well-developed self images” don’t want to walk into a K-Mart or Wal-Mart to buy a pack of cheap razors. (I buy cheap packs of disposable razors at my local Walgreens, but hey, I’m a tech journalist, so my self-image is screwed up in all kinds of ways.) When it comes to price, it’s hard to beat $1 a month, and when it comes to convenience, it’s hard to beat a delivery to your doorstep.
Strangely, this isn’t the first company to offer razor deliveries — the memorably named Manpacks is offering a monthly package that includes razors as well as other necessities like underwear. Durbin argues that Manpacks is looking at things “a little too broadly,” because it’s hard to predict exactly what you’ll need from month to month. Shaving, on the other hand, is “one of the most regular things we do. It’s a no brainer.”
Dollar Shave Club has raised more than $1 million in a round led by Kleiner and Forerunner Ventures, with participation from Andreesen Horowitz, Shasta Ventures, Felicis Ventures, Shevin Pishevar, Dennis Phelps, and David Honig.
So what makes this a venture-backed business with big potential, rather than a novelty? Well, there’s the size of the personal grooming market, which Jones estimates at $2.6 billion in the press release. Durbin says he can take a significant portion of that market by building a memorable brand. Its first promotional video is a good example of the “very irreverent, smart, fun, very Internet” identity that Durbin wants to create. For some reason, I’m not supposed to post the video until 5am Pacific, but I’ve watched it and basically love it — it is, after all, titled, “Our Blades Are F***ing Great.”
Durbin also hopes to create a stronger relationship with consumers as Dollar Shave Club expands the product line. It’s already adding new types of blades with the relaunch — the 4X blade for $6 a month and The Executive for $9 — and when it gets into shaving cream, the company will actually ask people to vote on the formulas on its website.
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