Moving Beyond Direct-to-Consumer

Changing consumer behaviors have redefined what it means to be direct to consumer ("DTC"). What once began online a decade ago as a distribution and disintermediation strategy has since evolved into a multifaceted approach for the modern-day brand.

The future of direct-to-consumer is happening now. Years of innovation, pre-existing trends, and consumer evolution have been accelerated by a digital movement proliferated by COVID-19. However, many of the favorable market trends have changed in recent months. This year, we will examine the new challenges that DTC businesses face through our teaching and research programs, along with the unique strategies that founders have adopted to stay relevant in the wake of the global pandemic and the shifting consumer and investor preferences – from reinvesting in retail, introducing new channels, optimizing delivery and last mile logistics, exploring emerging interactive digital media such as TikTok and the metaverse, and building an approachable brand centered around community.

"Moving Beyond DTC," an HBS Teaching and Research initiative in its fourth year, serves as a launch pad for passionate and resilient students and readers eager to design, incubate and invest in DTC businesses through multiple formats and iterations.

Len Schlesinger and Ayelet Israeli of Harvard Business School, and Matt Higgins, of RSE Ventures, along with an extraordinary lineup of founders, investors and leaders, focus on delivering natural world perspectives that enable and empower students and readers in our community to build, operate, and scale successful DTC businesses.

Some of our committed 2023 class visitors: