Influencers Are the Retailers of the 2020s

Just as the rise of influencers and fall of corporate legitimacy left individuals to become the primary distribution for brands and eventually to form their own (Tyler, Rihanna, even George Clooney), a few individual devs can take the place of entire corporations in building decentralized financial rails. 

Traditional and institutional brands and retailers will continue to lose market share to local retailers and community-based shopping platforms.

Indeed, for fashion, sports stars are the new superstars. Brands are increasingly seeing the value of athletes, who are following the influencer playbook and building large networks around their fame.

Now-established players have learned that Instagram advertisements and influencer campaigns only scale to a point: they can net no more than a few hundred thousand of a brand’s “first best” customers. This has driven a shift toward physical retail and prompted founders to agonize over if and when to peddle their wares on Amazon, making direct to co... See more