The Diff | Byrne Hobart | Substack

There are essentially two business models right now: boring, useful things that can print money and tastemaker brands that can brute force cultural relevancy. Dumb $ is funding the middle: stuff that is neither useful nor cool enough to make it past current startup headwinds.

Another big shift in the toy industry is the move to subscriptions. Lovevery offers educational toys for kids on a subscription model, with each toy designed for children of a specific age. Subscriptions are easy for consumable products and challenging for durables—to sell a toy subscription is to suggest that it’s a toy the child will get bored of... See more