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Josh’s Charitable Vegas Adventure 1 How to Exercise Like an Avenger 2 Meet Nick, Josh’s Business Coach 2 Important News — We Need Your Help! 3 Go Brandless — Their Unique Comeback Story 4
GO BRANDLESS! It’s Back and Better Than Ever
Companies like Warby Parker have built a powerful customer following for creating direct-to-consumer products that slash prices by cutting out the middleman. Now, Brandless is doing the same thing for small, everyday purchases. When you buy peanut butter, you’re not just buying the product — you’re also buying the brand attached to it, along with its costs of distributing and warehousing, plus retail space. By eliminating what co-founder and CEO Tina Sharkey calls a “brand tax,” she realized Brandless could significantly cut down the costs for small products that people bought every day. When Sharkey and veteran entrepreneur Ido Leffler came up with the concept of Brandless, it immediately caught fire. They raised over $16 million in November 2016,
and at launch, received over $50 million in venture capital from New Enterprise Associates, Google Ventures, and others. However, their business model didn’t sustain itself forever — Sharkey stepped down as CEO in May 2019 after friction between her and lead investor SoftBank Vision Fund. By February 2020, Brandless
That’s when Utah-based digital marketing exec Ryan Treft entered the picture. He’s the new CEO, and his vision has, thus far, helped make the consumer’s “quality to price valued product” daydream a reality. “It’s not about racing other brands to the bottom of being the cheapest, because that’s where people compromise on the quality, the ingredients,” Treft said. His new leadership promises to uphold Brandless’ previous commitments to keep all its products free from 400 potentially harmful ingredients, including parabens, sulfates, and synthetic dyes. For a new “brand” that attracted a lot of attention back when it was in its early stages, Brandless is certainly back to the top with its newer product lines in personal care. They’ve received great reviews and attention across platforms. Congrats for fighting your way back, Brandless!
had shut down and laid off 90% of its workforce, leaving only a few to manage open orders.
BRANDLESS IS THRIVING AGAIN, NEVERTHELESS.
When Brandless shut down, they cited their struggle with fierce competition and business model inviability in the direct-to-consumer market. Part of the problem was that Brandless simply wasn’t sustainable in the way Sharkey and Leffler originally hoped.
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