How This Video Helped Build Dollar Shave Club To A $1 Billion Exit

Heard a business story while drinking my morning coffee that blew me away. Here it is…

This is Michael Dubin. He was just another face in the crowd.

At 32, he was laid off from his job at Time Inc.’s Sports Illustrated Kids and turned down by every single business school he applied to.

But it wasn’t over yet…

One day, at a party, he met a man with a warehouse full of razors.

“Holy sh*t!” he thought.

An idea sparked in Dubin’s mind - a subscription-based company that delivered high-quality razors at a fraction of the cost of their competitors.

He called it Dollar Shave Club (DSC).

The company was a small fish in a big pond dominated by big brands like Gillette. Dubin knew that to make a splash, they needed to do something different.

So, they turned to YouTube.

In 2012, they released a video titled “Our Blades Are F***ing Great.”

When Dubin woke up the next morning, he noticed his website wasn’t working.

Why?

Remember, that video they posted? It went viral.

It was hilarious, engaging, and, most importantly, it spoke directly to consumers’ frustrations with the cost and inconvenience of buying razors.

The message was clear.

Dollar Shave Club understands the problem, and we have a solution.

Within 48 hours, DSC had over 12,000 new subscribers.

And just like that, a company that started in a small accelerator now had a chance to be a major player in the razor industry.

Today, the video has amassed over 28M views, and Dollar Shave Club was successfully acquired for $1 Billion in 2016.

If you want more of these stories, let me know here.

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