Startups aim to Disrupt Consumer goods

Startups shook up the sleepy razor market. What’s next? 

NEW YORK (AP) — What do you hate shopping for? Toothpaste? Sunscreen? The guys who founded Harry’s shaving club want to know.

The startup, which took on razor giants Gillette and Schick with its direct-to-consumer subscription model, has since expanded into traditional retail and launched a line of body care products. Armed with $112 million in new financing to develop new brands, the company now is investigating what other sleepy products might be ripe for disruption.

“It might be better products, a better experience getting the products or a brand that appeals to who they want to be as people,” said Jeff Raider, who recently took on the role of CEO of Harry’s Labs, overseeing the development of new brands.

There’s a reason why Harry’s investors are betting that reinventing the razor was no flash-in-the-pan idea. Insurgent brands are shaking up the way people buy everything from mattresses to prescription acne remedies, eating into the market share of big consumer product companies and leaving them scrambling to respond.

Eager venture capitalists, digital technology and social media make it easier for anyone with a good idea to enter the consumer goods market, according to a report on insurgent brands by Bain & Company, a management consulting firm. Contract manufacturing, which allows companies to outsource production and sometimes defray costs, also has made it simpler.

“The reality is that no category is immune to disruption,” the Bain & Company report said. ... "