Two college-era friends set out to change the face of shaving—and in the process, took on one of the biggest companies in the world. In 2011, Andy Katz-Mayfield and Jeff Raider realized they shared a common frustration with an everyday purchase: razors. Locked behind counters like diamond bracelets, they were inconvenient to buy and expensive to replace, with branding that seemed more suited to James Bond than a regular guy. So Andy and Jeff took on the Goliath of the shaving industry, Gillette—and its parent company, P&G—to launch a direct-to-consumer razor company with a friendly name. As a co-founder of Warby Parker, Jeff had some experience with D-to-C, but nothing prepared either founder for the rigors of razor research, and the culture shock of partnering with a factory in a remote part of Germany. After weathering a failed merger, Harry’s Inc. has grown into a force in the shaving industry both online and in-store, and has begun expanding into other household products.
This episode was produced by Liz Metzger, with music by Ramtin Arablouei
Edited by Neva Grant, with research help from Katherine Sypher.
You can follow HIBT on Twitter & Instagram, and email us at
hibt@id.wondery.com.See Privacy Policy at
https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at
https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
