Morning! As we continue adjusting to the new normal, I wanted to share my favorite tweet (yep, ya boi’s on Twitter these days) of the week:
Consumer and enterprise needs are changing rapidly, and great talent is readily available. Go get ‘em, tiger!
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Dusen Dusen 🌈
For the record, I love Dusen Dusen. The wacky patterns, IDGAF attitude of the models, chic website - it has all the hallmarks of a breakout brand in the 2020s. But would you actually wear any of their pieces?
Dusen Dusen was founded by Ellen Van Dusen and is named after her design business she founded in 2009. Since then she’s taken her design freelance gigs and turned them into a full-fledged apparel and home goods brand.
They even have trippy pattern puzzles for your social-isolation pleasure.
Misen 🔪
One side-effect of me being indoors for days on end is extravagant cooking. This has got me seriously thinking about upgrading my kitchen setup. Where to look first? D2C kitchenware brands of course! This led me to Misen Kitchenware.
Misen was founded by Omar Rada (a self-proclaimed “knife nerd”) in 2016 with a very successful Kickstarter campaign. Since then he’s expanded to all sorts of kitchenware from pots and pans to cutting boards.
His flagship chef’s knife starts at $65, with complete cookware setups costing $425.
Thakoon 👘
Thakoon (founded by Thakoon Panichgul) has had a diverse past. The brand has actually been around since 2004 when Thakoon launched his first ready-to-wear collection after graduating from the Parson’s School of Design.
Since then his pieces have been worn by Michelle Obama, as well as Demi Moore and Sarah Jessica Parker. In recent years however he turned his focus towards more accessible fashion, which is why he stopped making ready-to-wear in 2017 to focus on new projects.
He re-launched his label in 2019 producing much more affordable at-home pieces. Some of my favorites are the Hooded Trench and Silk Shirt Dress.
News I’m Following 👀
📺 Quibi (which is short for “quick bites” - is that the best they could come up with? 🤢) launched this week. Will it live up to the hype? Or more importantly, the $1.75 billion of pre-launch invested capital? I’m not so sure…
Yes, Quibi is being managed by media heavyweights Jeffrey Katzenberg (founder of DreamWorks) and Meg Whitman (former CEO of HP and eBay), and yes they’ve brought on mega-talent like Chrissy Teigen, Lebron James, Jennifer Lopez, and Reese Witherspoon, but will consumers buy into short-form TV? Instagram, Snapchat, and YouTube have tried this formula already with limited success.
It also costs $5 a month with ads… which is a tough pill to swallow for many younger consumers these days.
That being said, I’m always surprised at how big of a TV diet the average person has, and the COVID-19 situation presents a unique opportunity for content creators. They’ve got a captive audience, but will the content resonate?
🧳 AWAY joins this list of buzzy D2C companies facing layoffs. The trendy suitcase manufacturer announced it’s laying off at least 10% of its workforce and furloughing much more for the foreseeable future.
Amid the announcement, they cited drastic sales declines of over 90% in the past several weeks due to the COVID-19 travel freeze.
Luckily it seems they’ve learned from the mistakes of some of their peers *Everlane, cough* because they handled the layoffs appropriately. All laid-off employees will receive a minimum of 8 weeks of severance and will see their healthcare coverage through the end of June. They also waived the vesting cliff on equity for employees that joined the company recently.
🦠 COVID-19 will inevitably make WFH a more common job perk. Since almost all companies are not allowing their employees to come into the office, the world workforce is taking a massive crash course on how to WFH effectively.
The Global Workplace Analytics (GWA) estimates that 25-30% of the workforce will switch to some portion of WFH even after the pandemic subsides. With the average American commute clocking in at 38 minutes (and growing), businesses will be more comfortable letting their employees skip the commute and focus on their work.
Jobs 💼
Casper - Associate Product Manager (NYC)
Rowing Blazers - Operations Manager (NYC)
Everlane - VP of Performance Marketing (SF)
Curology - User Aquisition Manager (SF)
Oura - Senior Product Manager (SF)
Peloton - Senior Operations Manager (NYC)
Internships 🎓
Curated - Strategy & Operations MBA Intern (SF)
Take-Two Software - D2C Strategy MBA Intern (SF)
Shareables 😏
📎 The best way to waste time on the internet right now.
🏘️ The best way to waste time on Instagram right now.
🕌 An epic profile of Mohammed bin Salman: a prince seemingly destined for obscurity that built an empire.
🤩 Top Hollywood agents are signing influencers that have no intention of going to Hollywood.
👠 Inside the strip clubs of Instagram, courtesy of the NYT.
😈 The 10 most notorious fugitives on the FBI’s most-wanted list.
⏲️ The rise of the retreat: how vacation became just another thing we’re working on.
📈 The top 100 fastest-growing and declining categories in E-commerce.
🏢 How ‘The Office’ became the internet’s favorite show.
🛒 This week’s oldie but goodie: Carts of Darkness - a documentary on shopping cart racing, and much more.
Hey! I’m Sean, a first-year MBA at the University of Michigan. Know of a new brand I should feature? Holla at me! I’d also love your feedback - feel free to shoot me a note at seansky@umich.edu.
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