How DTC Got Hard: The New Demands of Building Today

DTC is damn hard...

Pre-2020’s was the tail-end of its original manifesto.

• Cut out the middle person (distribution/retail/wholesale)

• Own the customer

• Pocket large margins as an early adopter

Then the squeeze began…

• Tech stacks & ad channels are widely available. More like a tax than a moat (Shopify/Meta/Google)

• Baseline of content talent up means attention is more expensive

• Amazon, Temu, Alibaba = margin vampires

• Tariffs and supply chain unknowns

• Market sentiment (inflation)

• iOS14.5, GDPR, CCPA

The Overton Window is a concept from political theory. It refers to the range of ideas or behaviors that feel socially or professionally acceptable at any given time. What’s considered “normal” shifts over time. What used to be radical becomes table stakes.

That’s exactly what’s happening in DTC.

The level of operator competence, creative quality, media buying complexity, and financial literacy that once stood out… now just lets you compete. That’s why I say the Overton Window of DTC sophistication has shifted:

• DTC Easy → DTC Normal → DTC Hard → DTC Insanity Mode (?)

So if it feels like you’re working twice as hard for half the result—it’s not you. The bar moved.

It’s like school:

• Marketing: Proficient in Science, Art & Psychology.

• Operations: Proficient in Shop & Debate.

• Finance: Proficient in Math & Statistics.

Seems like to even survive requires operational excellence across the board.

If you want to thrive now, you can’t just be great at one of these. You need to be competent in all three and excellent in at least one.

The bright side is opportunity is in the hard as wise people say.

Scary? Yes.

Exciting? Also yes.

Darwin said adapt, ay? I'm excited by the solutions and innovations that come out of it. We'll see how this industry evolves.

Deep breath

Good luck all.

What would you add to "The Squeeze?

What "classes" are you taking to be competitive?

What DTC game level do you think we’re at? (DTC easy, DTC normal, DTC hard, DTC insanity, something else?)

Kenny Hoang is the Founder & CEO of Emblem. For 2025, he’s reading a GPT-curated book list, getting back in Jiu-Jitsu, and this year, working on improving his resting heart rate with Zone 2 and 5 cardio. He’s based in San Diego with his wife. Connect with Kenny on X and Linkedin.