The Lesson Entrepreneurs Should Take From Dollar Shave Club’s Big $1 Billion Win

In the entire landscape of ecommerce 2.0, including content and commerce mashups, flash sales, and subscription commerce, this is only the second $1 billion exit in the US, and you can count the exits that high in ecommerce since the bubble– period– on your fingers. Forerunner’s Kirsten Green may know this more acutely than anyone. One of the top ecommerce investors, she invested in Bonobos, Birchbox and Warby Parker as three of her first deals. But she’s long said that Dollar Shave Club was one of her most underrated bets. It’s paid off handsomely for her now, in an era where she’s one of the only investors who still wants to back commerce. But the lesson from this win isn’t that actually subscription commerce is great after all, nor is it that a good viral video will lead you to a $1 billion exit. It’s not anything about the advantages of starting a company in LA either. It’s this: Build the company you want to build no matter how many people tell you it’s impossible by citing other failures. Read more at Pando.