Ushering in the new at Backbone

Backbone’s vision and thesis over the last five years has remained the same. We are now living in a Direct-to-Consumer ecosystem. Brands like Warby Parker, Allbirds, Outdoor Voices, and a slew of other digitally-native darlings have shaped the way modern companies are getting to market.

While not every consumer goods brand operates within a D2C business model, the modern consumer’s demands and expectations have evolved to expect it. Today’s end-customer anticipates products to be delivered without having to consider traditional brick and mortar environments. Speed is the driving force in the D2C economy and to meet these market standards, brands must move faster than ever.

The democratization of e-commerce has lowered the barriers of entry for the makers of today (i.e., Indiegogo, Kickstarter — or brands like Western Rise’s “Limitless Merino Wool Shirt” crowd-fund). What does this mean for the traditional supply chain for these makers? Rely on seasonal winners and take chances on new products, or modernize your design and product development process so you can innovate at the same or faster pace as your growth.

It’s clear that brands who adopt the “by any means necessary” mentality are going to clear the path for the modern consumer to connect directly to their brand, however, there is a responsibility to both the product makers and their supply chain to evolve their processes — creating visibility throughout each step of the development cycle enabling better buying decisions and opportunities to cut waste.

More than ever, consumer goods companies need a platform, a backbone, to build innovative products faster, smarter, together. I’m excited to work with consumer goods brands across many verticals who are disrupting product creation on the revolutionary Backbone platform. What will you build next?

This piece was originally published on April 18, 2019, exclusively on LinkedIn.