Great entrepreneurs tend to gravitate toward the hard challenges.
That’s exactly Jeff Raider did when he started Harry’s, a company that sells razors, blades, and shaving gel right from their website.
Not only is shaving an industry that’s over 100 years old and rarely sees big innovation, but Jeff was also up against some big incumbents with deep pockets and intellectual property rights that could easily stifle innovation.
Drawing from his experience co-founding Warby Parker, Jeff knew there was another way to win: Take something that people typically hate and turn it into an enjoyable experience. Harry’s offers a great shave at a fair price, and they sell everything direct to the consumer online. That means no middleman to jack up the prices, and it also means you don’t have to trek to the store when you’re out of razors — Harry’s will just send them to you.
He joins Mike Volpe, HubSpot’s CMO, on this episode of The Growth Show to tell the story behind Harry’s growth (including some tactical tips you can try, too). Because of this growth strategy, they built a list of 100,000 signups before even launching. Jeff and Mike also cover:
- How they design and manufacture their razorblades
- Jeff’s learnings from co-founding Warby Parker and how they influence Harry’s
- How creating a direct relationships with their customers has created a competitive advantage
- The importance of customer feedback and the right ways to get it
- A strategy for engaging influencers and press to build excitement and interest before launch
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