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Open Letter: On Community

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The DTC Power List | March 1

A New Top 20

Recent Memos

An Open Letter: On Community

Community building isn’t easy. This weekend, everything went wrong. It started with a weird bug that was causing us a few problems. Here and there, a paying customer would write to ask “Why am I receiving a rejection email?”, or something similar. We would explain it away and change a setting to prevent it,… Continue reading →

February 22, 2021February 22, 2021

Web Smith

Memo: DeFi and The Explorer’s Principle

There is no more undiscovered physical land; there are only ideas that may develop into new land of its own. Consider Bitcoin, the first blockchain, and the genesis story of decentralized currency. An idea became new land, albeit digital. On that land, systems were built and exchanges were founded. New products like fungible tokens and… Continue reading →

February 16, 2021February 16, 2021

Web Smith

Memo: In Good Fashion

The merits of fashion retail have never been logical but for the best operators, there is a way to make sense of the chaos. Likeability, brand equity, and appeal can shift in an instant. But there are predictors of success and failure. Historical benchmarks have long been available to serve as guideposts for the savviest… Continue reading →

February 8, 2021February 8, 2021

Web Smith

Memo: The Forgotten Middle

The shift to eCommerce has been overstated, according to one common refrain. There’s some evidence to back that up: total eCommerce penetration accounts for an estimated 14.3-16.1% of all retail sales in 2021, a small slice. Anecdotal support of physical retail’s continued prominence is also regularly called to mind. In a well-researched essay by Elena… Continue reading →

January 18, 2021January 18, 2021

Web Smith

Recent Member Briefs

Member Brief: The Press Club

This report is supported by 2PM’s Executive Membership and is temporarily unlocked. We publish seven reports, each week: five in short form and two long-form pieces. This is in addition to curating and maintaining a dozen databases on site. To be a part of what we’re building, you can join here: The Executive Membership. There is… Continue reading →

February 26, 2021March 1, 2021

Web Smith

Member Brief: The Lying Mall Owner

Every mall ownership group has to lie or the house of cards may fall. It’s not the pandemic’s fault that the mall bubble is bursting; it’s been years in the making. We’ve all seen it. A verified Twitter personality records and posts a video of a busy American mall with the caption: “Retail is back… Continue reading →

February 19, 2021February 19, 2021

Web Smith

Member Practical: Art, Science, and Economics Meet

A kitten, an NBA champion, a canvas of graffiti-covered art, and 4,101 parcels of virtual land walk into a bar. Instantly, the value of that bar grows by 137 ethereum. If you have no idea what I am talking about, you are not alone. This primer will help explain the origin, the present, and… Continue reading →

February 12, 2021February 12, 2021

Web Smith

Member Brief: Clubhouse Commerce

The true measure of retail’s direction is the attention focused on the technologies that provide the most serendipity. Physical retail will always have its place and online retail will likely never be the majority of all sales velocity. But consider this question: If you were starting a brand right now, where would you go… Continue reading →

February 1, 2021February 5, 2021

Web Smith

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