Dollar Shave Club: Michael Dubin, From Zero to a Billion Dollar Exit in Five Years (December 2018)

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Jan 5, 2026

Michael Dubin, founder of Dollar Shave Club, shares his entrepreneurial journey from a warehouse of unused razors to a billion-dollar acquisition by Unilever. He discusses how a chance meeting at a holiday party sparked the idea and how his background in improv comedy shaped his innovative marketing strategies. The creation of a viral launch video catapulted the brand into fame, while their rapid expansion into more grooming products caught the eye of major players. Dubin candidly reflects on the challenges faced and the role of luck in his success.

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INSIGHT

Story Beats Product In Category Disruption

Dollar Shave Club succeeded by offering a better story, not a radically different product.
Michael's marketing and comedy background let him attack an entrenched market through brand and narrative.

ANECDOTE

Chance Meeting Led To Razors In Warehouse

Michael Dubin met Mark Levine at a holiday party and learned about 250,000 razors in a Rancho Cucamonga warehouse.
He paid $700 to secure them sight unseen and took samples home to test before starting Dollar Shave Club.

ANECDOTE

Viral Launch Video Crashed The Site

Michael wrote and filmed the viral launch video with director Lucia and shot it in their fulfillment warehouse.
The video crashed the site at launch, sold out inventory, and triggered massive demand.

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It started with a massive pile of razors sitting in a Rancho Cucomonga warehouse, and Michael Dubin’s chance meeting of the man who wanted to get rid of them.

In 2010, Michael was working in marketing in Los Angeles, producing online video content. As a hobby, Michael took improv comedy classes.

At a holiday party, he met a man named Mark Levine. Mark was looking for ideas to sell razors he had imported, but didn’t know how to unload.

Michael’s background in video and comedy helped him create a viral launch video for his spontaneous idea: an internet razor subscription brand called Dollar Shave Club.

Five years after launching, Dollar Shave Club sold to consumer products behemoth Unilever for a reported $1 billion in cash.

This episode was recorded in front of a live audience in Los Angeles.

What you’ll learn:

How Michael’s early career at NBC in New York exposed him to a world of video production - and comedy
The fateful party where Michael had to decide whether to start a company to sell razors - or to sell cake slicers
How Michael’s gut feeling was that shaving was a sector that could use disruption - even though it meant facing down daunting incumbent players like Gillette
Michael’s viral launch video was so good, it brought investors on board
How to DIY fulfillment to keep an overnight success on track
How expanding their offerings into other men’s grooming products caught the attention of Unilever and led to an acquisition offer

Listen now to hear the amazing backstory of one of the best-known early DTC brands.

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This episode was produced by Casey Herman with music composed by Ramtin Arablouei.

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