Dr. Johannes Steegmann

On Holding AG's impressive Q1 performance is a testament to the power of brand and product awareness. With a record-breaking CHF 508.2 million in net sales, driven by a 39% surge in DTC sales, On demonstrates that when your brand and products resonate with consumers, the sales channels follow suit. Their strategy highlights the importance of creating strong, desirable products that capture consumer interest and loyalty. As On continues to expand its market presence, it's clear that a robust brand foundation is key to sustainable growth. https://lnkd.in/eSqB9_RR

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If retailers feel that their world has been turned upside down by the newer generations of shoppers and the technology the world is embracing, we at Silicon Road Ventures wish to contend that this is only the beginning. Though recent headlines trumpet how the old-guard retailers are going out of business, the reality is that retail sales have grown and continue to do so. In this competitive landscape, the key to survival is not just adapting to change, but embracing it. Retailers who innovate and build stores, in real life or virtually, that cater to consumers' evolving needs, will emerge victorious. I'm speaking with Walmart's Ram Rampalli about the role of strategic investing in guiding innovation and getting retailers into the investment game at NRF Nexus (nexus.nrf.com). We'll discuss this and the recent trend of retailers making strategic investments in retail tech startups. If you're going, I'd love to connect.

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Pricing innovation (or "innovation" for the more cynical among us), has been shoved clearly into the spotlight more and more as retailers harvest and put to work more of our data. But is it going in the right direction? In this magnificently written and interesting article from The Atlantic by Christopher Beam, they talk through and share many points of view on modern-day pricing experiments. https://lnkd.in/eRkgbFPH I have a fairness ego-state (long story - but safe to say fairness means a lot to me), so am particularly sensitive to the idea of pricing being fluid based on factors that can include my own personal circumstances. It was interesting to hear from the economists, brand experts, consumer behaviour experts, and more that they called on. Highly recommend the read. Some of my favourite parts: The article goes into the debate about fairness between consumers and economists: "To regular people, raising the price of something precisely when we need it the most is the definition of predatory behavior. To an economist, it is the height of rationality" One more progressive view from an economist also points out that; "In a world of scarce resources, perhaps rationing by time is fairer than rationing by price. We all have different amounts of money, after all, whereas time is evenly distributed" I can't imagine many board rooms lighting up at this idea overall, but for some brands, this competitive differential may be enough to help you grow? As our data becomes more readily available to brands, and their ability to use it keeps growing, it will be interesting to see what techniques win, and which ones end up building a lack of trust. And in case the airlines are listening, I'm more of a pistachio-human myself. Gareth Jude Marcella Larsen Paul Greenberg Paul Zahra Adam D. Brandon Rael Liza Amlani Paula Macaggi Fritz Finlay Alicia Esposito

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Thanks RETHINK Retail for the profile piece on me. Just a few highlights here: > What challenges/opportunities are currently facing retailers? • How to balance the demands of investors to innovation and disruption at the expense of the in-store experience. • The opportunities to build their own bench by a clear path to more money via more learning and training opportunity. No one knows the store better than the front-line workers. That needs to be respected and harvested rather than trying to be chasing the elusive DTC profit-losing initiatives. Read the full article to learn more:)

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BRILLIANT RESEARCH: Five 2024 Holiday Shopping Predictions https://lnkd.in/emwXStw7  Holiday shopping will look different for retailers this year.  After remaining largely resilient throughout four years of economic uncertainty, consumers are finally feeling the pinch.  Nearly a third of global shoppers (32%) reported using alternative credit services like buy now, pay later (BNPL) more frequently this year #retail Digital Commerce 360

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Headlines like “Self-Checkout is a Failed Experiment” and “Why Retailers are Losing Faith in Self-Checkout” have been plentiful these past few months, along with story after story of big-name retailers like Target, Walmart, Dollar General and Costco “ditching” the tech. It’s been a veritable tsunami of bad press for self-checkout, and honestly, it’s not all that surprising — after all, consumers have long complained about the finicky machines, which often don’t work and, even when they do, make many customers feel like they’re doing the retailer’s job for them. #retailtech #customerexperience

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Key EMARKETER stat: US ecommerce resale volume will hit $80.60 billion this year, a growth of 3.4% YoY, per our December 2023 forecast. Beyond the chart: Ecommerce resale volume is returning to growth after a 6.9% dip YoY in 2022 and a 2.5% one in 2023, per eMarketer forecast. But it still hasn’t returned to its pandemic high of $85.87 billion in 2021. Growth in the number of online fashion buyers has slowed, leading platforms to search for strategies to boost order values by offering luxury goods and courting wealthy shoppers. #ecommerce #resale #retailsales

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This episode we are joined by Kate Berski, Co-Founder of CURLSMITH, a high performance, inclusive haircare brand which she started with her husband in 2018. It soon became one of the fastest growing textured hair brands and would go on to retail at Ulta Beauty, Target, Boots and many more. The idea for Curlsmith was formed out of a family struggle to find suitable haircare products for Kate’s nieces’ curly hair. Kate and her husband Michal soon realised that there was a gap in the market with lots of people unable to find appropriate products for their hair. Using her experience in advertising and brand consulting, combined with Michal’s experience working for some major beauty companies, they soon developed a community around an Instagram page that they launched, which shared advice, recipes and tips for people with curly hair, before they began the process of making their own product. In this episode, we discuss 🤩: - The haircare industry and how Curlsmith was brought to life - The journey (and cost) of developing a product - The pros and cons of staying lean as long as possible - Digital vs retail channels - Going down the VC route and how that helped grow the business - The toll a startup has on your mental health - Having a kid whilst running a business, and realising there’s more to life than work - What it’s like to sell your company  - How entrepreneurship compares to becoming an author And much much more… #Entrepreneurship #StartupMentalHealth #BalancingWorkAndFamily #EntrepreneurshipVsAuthorship #NotMyFirstGuess

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Join us tomorrow for a panel discussion on the complex relationship many FirstGens have to money and how that affects founders, investors, operators and others. See you tomorrow! https://lu.ma/9rixyzgs

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My colleagues @Brian and @Catherine delve into the importance of practicality in Retail's AI-driven future. Emphasizing the significance of informed decisions based on tangible business advantages over unrealistic hype and speculation. Discover how pairing AI with practical strategies success.

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A good dataroom makes a great impression, but is not that obvious what that looks like and what consumer VCs are looking for! Having gone through hundreds of these at dmg ventures and seen the good, the bad and the ugly we want to help entrepreneurs putting their best foot forward. So Taos Edmondson, CFA wrote a great piece on how B2C founders can build data rooms that investors will love. Have a read!

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🚀 So interesting to see Amazon's rapid ascent in beauty and how this will continue to shape the dynamic, ever evolving beauty landscape. For beauty retailers specifically, the Amazon threat is real, but they can still find ways to win by leaning into their beauty specialty superpower. From brand curation to product discovery to premium and indie brand offerings, beauty retailers can leverage their omnichannel strategies as most beauty purchases still happen in store. Sephora and Ulta have the advantage of being able to engage deeply with their millions of beauty loyalists and enthusiasts and better target messaging to their customers. There is also an opportunity to further elevate their customer experience online, from virtual try-ons, skin diagnostics, product education and more. Thanks to Erica La Sala and Beauty Independent for including me. Check out the full article to read more from others - Joël Palix, Tina Henry Bou-Saba, Aaron Chatterley, Karen Hayes and more! https://lnkd.in/eusxEKSd True Beauty Ventures #beautyinvesting #beauty #ecommerce

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The promise of new category creation is fairly easy to understand and the idea that a new category offers huge open markets with little or no competition is very appealing. But, what happens when your new category actually starts to develop. Here things change quite dramatically and you'll start to see: "increasing competition in all areas of the industry and many companies (are) pursuing similar paths towards their goals." These signals are often off-putting to strategists and investors looking at an early-stage category creator but in our view: "these dynamics aren’t signals that these categories are unhealthy and won’t deliver returns. Quite the opposite - they’re exactly what you’d would hope to see in categories that are healthy, growing and on their way to developing fully." We took a deeper dive into category creation in our latest substack: https://lnkd.in/g2xpg6tX

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Inspiration and humanity in leadership are crucial, and few embody these qualities better than the women featured on the Dare to Lead podcast. In the latest episode, Brené Brown and Lisa Gevelber dive deep into bridging the digital divide, ensuring more people have access to technology, and understanding the concept of "human in the loop" in AI. Their conversation sheds light on the remarkable ways teachers, business owners, and everyday individuals are leveraging AI to make a difference. This episode underscores the importance of inclusive technology and the power of human-centric leadership. If you're seeking to be inspired by leaders who blend innovation with empathy, this episode is a must-listen. These are the kinds of discussions that can transform our approach to leadership and drive meaningful change. Listen to the episode and join the conversation on how we can all work towards a more connected and humanized future. https://lnkd.in/e7WNDxyJ

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PE - PE Acceleration Toolkit (i.e. not Playbook) What commercial, GTM and growth areas do you cover in your "PE Portfolio Company Toolkit" (i.e. some funds like Vista Equity Partners call it a Playbook but I refer to it as toolkit with the aim of it being a participatory, not a prescriptive playbook)? Some ideas* come to mind - what else? (* i.e. Commercial/GTM/Revenue Growth - not including Product, Engineering, R&D and other functions) 1. Sales Optimization   - Sales Org Structure   - Sales Management Process   - Sales Prospecting & Outbound   - Sales Process Engineering - Pipeline Management - Forecasting & Commit Process - Forecasting Rollups - CEO & Board   - Sales performance metrics and KPIs   - Channel Sales, Partner and alliance programs   - Rev Ops & Sales Enablement   - Sales Quota, Compensation & Incentives   - Sales Tech & Automation 2. Marketing Optimization   - B2B Demand Generation strategy   - Marketing Management - Marketing Process Engineering - Defining Lead Nomenclature - Campaign Management - Strategic Messaging Architecture   - PLG - Product Led Growth   - Digital & Inbound marketing    - Account-based marketing (ABM) - Customer Marketing - Product Marketing - Marketing/Sales Alignment & SLAs   - Marketing Metrics / KPIs   - Marketing Tech & Automation 3. Customer Management, Success and Retention   - Customer onboarding processes   - VOC - collecting and analyzing customer feedback   - Customer Segmentation   - Customer Management Processes   - Proactive customer Engagement   - AM & Expansion Sales   - Renewal strategies   - Customer loyalty strategies   - Customer support optimization   - Customer metrics and KPIs 4. Pricing and Packaging   - Pricing strategies   - Value-based pricing   - Discounting strategies & pricing transparency   - Subscription and usage-based models   - Pricing experimentation and A/B testing   - Competitive pricing analysis 5. Operational Efficiency   - SaaS metrics (CAC, LTV, churn rate, etc.)   - Process automation and workflow optimization 6. Talent & Culture   - Leadership & Management    - Attracting and retaining top talent   - Building a high-performance culture   - Performance Management   - Remote work best practices   - Continuous learning and development 7. Community Building   - Community creation & engagement   - Building an ecosystem around the product   - Customer Advocacy Programs 8. Data and Analytics   - Data-driven decision-making   - Business intelligence (BI) tools and dashboards   - Data governance, security and privacy   - AI applications Other: 9. Product (& GTM Alignment) 10. M&A (Commercial/GTM integration) 11. Finance (Supporting the GTM org) 12. GTM Board Updates & KPIs 13. Etc. ------------------ #pe #privateequity #business

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Join me on June 5! Angel Investing - Lessons from the Experts: Harvard Business School Alumni Angels announce their Angel Investing Bootcamp https://lnkd.in/eFU7uD7i

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Retail is an ever-evolving industry that has seen its fair share of changes over the years. From traditional brick-and-mortar stores to the rise of e-commerce, product startups have had to adapt and keep up with changing consumer behavior. In recent years, technological advancements and shifting consumer preferences have caused significant disruptions in the retail landscape. Check out our latest blog post where we will discuss the latest trends in retail and how product startups can adapt to these changes. https://lnkd.in/gwqbiBd2 #retail #retailtrends #digitalmarketing #sustainability #ecommerce #customerservice #dataanalytics #omnichannel

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