
How MeUndies built a $32M company - pmp301
https://jilt.com/upsell/meundies-experience/
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supremerumham
Pretty sure all their success is due to this Bill Burr ad
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BEtD0p6BIic](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BEtD0p6BIic)

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toyg
They targeted the podcast space pretty significantly, i’ve heard about them
for years on Harmontown.

~~~
supremerumham
They target the podcasts with pretty big audiences too!! I've heard ads from
Rogan and Ferriss too!!

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superplussed
What does it mean to be a $32M company? Based on whose valuation? I don't get
why this number is such a prominent feature, and then is never explained. And
is $32M a big number? Compared to who? This all seems strange to me.

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kylecazar
Inc.com lists 2016 revenue as $32.6. Also interested in more information as to
where that puts them though.

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adventured
Hanes Brands does $6.4 billion in sales for example (obviously including all
of their business).

$32.6 million in sales is a small company in the underwear business. Men's
underwear (boxers, boxer briefs, briefs) in just the US + Canada is a $5.x
billion annual business at retail.

There's also this amusement:

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Men%27s_underwear_index](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Men%27s_underwear_index)

~~~
ksec
Sometimes some of these industries, not hyped like every tech companies and
don't get much media attention from Business magazine, are just mind blogging
big. And that is just Man! Which I assume spend comparatively VERY little
money as compared to woman underwear.

P.S - From wiki "The premise is that men's underwear are a necessity in normal
economic times and sales remain stable. " Am I the only one who don't think of
it as necessity? Or is this a US thing?

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ericsoderstrom
Sometimes it feels like I'm the only one who prefers cotton boxers to
synthetic boxer briefs.

Pros of the cotton boxer:

* More breathable

* Less scratchy

* Less "death grip on your junk"-y

* A lot less expensive

Cons:

* I guess they dry slower, so if you need to hang dry your underwear and have them be dry by the next morning, you'd have to use synthetic? But that's about it

I've tried synthetic boxer briefs from ex oficio, duluth trading trading,
meundies, calvin klein, saxx... They are all categorically worse than plain
cotton boxers.

~~~
nailer
> prefers cotton boxers to synthetic boxer briefs.

Modal is beech tree fibre and cotton. It doesn't seem super synthetic to me,
although some argue chemical treatment of the tree fibres make it that way:
[https://www.thespruce.com/how-to-wash-modal-
clothes-2145794](https://www.thespruce.com/how-to-wash-modal-clothes-2145794)

I don't subscribe to MU by the way, I collected t shirts and one point and
used to date a girl with a textiles degree. I had one t-shirt that felt
magical, she told me it was modal and I learnt what it was. Now I buy cheap
modal t shirts and underwear from Amazon.

~~~
cco
Modal is just Rayon no? I had the same misconception about "hemp fabric",
turns out these exotic "natural fabrics" are just Rayon made using a novel
source of cellulose.

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diorray
Dropshipping underwears from Blackspade @ Turkey and charging customers with
x5 price?

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andyourbore
Haha, ding ding ding we have a winner.

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Barberfendel
Is this actually what they do, or is it a joke that went over my head?

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WosIsMitDu
Former employee from there, that's exactly what they do. Shipments come
private labeled from turkey.

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doug1001
wow, so much for disrupting the underwears space

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ramenmeal
Sure it wasn't just good marketing? I can't get any content without hearing an
ad from them.

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stochastic_monk
I started getting MeUndies with my partner, who’d been subscribing since they
opened in LA just down the street from where she worked. They make a great
product, chose to ally themselves with good causes, artistic collaborations,
and the one-design-a-month made it a fun way to rotate new matching underwear
with one’s partner.

As someone who’s been a customer of theirs for a long time, I think they’re
valuable because of the service they provide.

~~~
WosIsMitDu
I'd reevaluate that statement. Their founder is a convicted felon for
knowingly exposing people to asbestos.

~~~
stochastic_monk
I hadn't heard this. Can you provide a reference for me?

Edit: [https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndtx/pr/regional-director-
calif...](https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndtx/pr/regional-director-califco-llc-
property-management-company-sentenced-12-months-and-1-day)

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pathartl
Maybe it's cause they charge $24 for a pair of underwear? I don't necessarily
doubt their quality, but the most I'd be willing to pay is half that.

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zachberger
Its only $16 if you're a member which is a core part of their business model.

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adrr
Wonder how successful their subscription model is. Clothing doesn't have a
natural fit with recurring purchases as it doesn't solve a problem for the
consumer.

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filoleg
Depends what kind of clothing. Imo socks and regular underwear (had to
differentiate "regular", because it doesn't include specialty/novelty stuff)
are semi-disposable kind of clothing that isn't meant to last a long long
time. I would never get a subscription service for normal clothing, because I
take care of it and it usually lasts a while. Underwear and socks (especially)
is the perfect fit for a subscription model imo.

~~~
cco
I haven't bought new underwear in about four years and my oldest pair just
ticked over a decade.

Duluth boxer briefs, and before that, when they were good, Ex Officio. I
highly recommend them for their long life and comfort.

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pssflops
I'm an absolute sucker for any Keith Haring artwork and they had a pair
available only to subscribers of the product. I wound up enjoying the comfort
of the product as much as the art and have been a satisfied customer since.

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tomcam
Automatic upvote for that beautiful man Keith Haring but... he's dead? How
could they have artwork only available to their customers?

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pssflops
It was his artwork as a print and proceeds went to the Keith Haring
Foundation, which receives royalties from its licensees and is a major funder
of HIV-AIDS organizations.

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chrisseaton
Why was that Facebook advert banned? It's literally someone just wearing the
product isn't it? It isn't explicit even for an underwear advert. Or am I
missing some cultural context or implication in the image?

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modernerd
Facebook's ad policies disallow “sexually suggestive content”. Their
definition is pretty broad (“excessive visible skin”):
[https://www.facebook.com/policies/ads/prohibited_content/adu...](https://www.facebook.com/policies/ads/prohibited_content/adult_content)

MeUndies has a page of others that Facebook banned, some of which are perhaps
more suggestive than the ad featured above, but barely:
[https://www.meundies.com/too-hot-for-facebook](https://www.meundies.com/too-
hot-for-facebook)

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onetimemanytime
Reads like a paid article. A 7-8 year old company that heavily advertises
builds a $32million company. Profit anywhere?

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lphnull
I really like their concept. I can see why people would sign up for this. I
just didn't like their small selection of designs. The impression I got from
their website was that they only have a handful of fabrics that they use for
both male and female. I was expecting more rainbows and unicorns, but the one
rainbow unicorn male boxer design didn't grab my attention like I thought it
would.

Still beats paying $5 a pair for generic boxers at walmart. If I had the extra
cash, I'd say why not and sign up.

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patmcc
>> I just didn't like their small selection of designs.

They may only have a small-ish selection of designs at any one time, but they
cycle very quickly; if you subscribe you get a new/unique design each month.

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bhandziuk
Seems so odd to me. How often do people need new underwear?

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ryanmercer
Right? I've been wearing, and training in, the same 8 pairs of ExOfficio for 5
years now and they still look fine.

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bytematic
I heard of them through some twitch streamers and it looked pretty good. I
bought some of their lounge pants and they are really nice, easily one of the
most comfortable items of clothing I own.

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ticmasta
>> easily one of the most comfortable items of clothing I own

Isn't this the sole responsibility of lounge wear? What else does it do?

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tomcam
I feel like I should downvote for the sarcasm but it was so funny I was
compelled to upvote. Sorry, PP.

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the_cat_kittles
ah yes, an excellent "tech" post about how to get rich by marketing something
pedestrian. lol at everyone here who doesn't see how transparently their
"tech" interest is actually just an interest in getting rich quick.

~~~
barbecue_sauce
Reminds me of when a snack company (I think it was Naturebox?) insisted in
their advertising that they used sophisticated machine learning to match you
with the perfect snack. Or how MIT graduates are using machine learning to
disrupt the wine-a-month club industry.

