When he was 40-years-old, King Gillette (yes, that was his real name) was on the road to nowhere.
After failing at every business venture he’d ever undertaken, he was selling bottle caps for a living.
But early one morning, while looking in the mirror after a painful shave, he came up with a revolutionary new idea.
And not only did that idea spawn the $7 billion razorblade empire that bears his name...
But it also provides investors like you and me with a system for picking winning investments, over and over again. Let me explain...
Disruptive Forces
What started out as a half-baked idea in Gillette’s bathroom in 1904 turned into one of the most iconic brands on the planet. Today, Gillette razors are used by 750 million men around the world.
But there were other razorblade companies back in 1904, so how did Gillette do it?
What was so “revolutionary” about Gillette’s product? What allowed it to grow to more than $7 billion a year in sales?
As it turns out, it had little to do with the product itself.
You see, generally, it’s not product innovation that allows a tiny start-up to dominate a market...
More often than not, market disruption tends to come from a savvy entrepreneur who knows how to take advantage of a powerful force.
It’s More Than The Product
Don’t get me wrong, disruptive companies also tend to have good products.
I mean, three times a week I shave my entire head using one of King Gillette’s razors. And just look at that smooth finish:
But it wasn’t the sharpness of his blades that made King Gillette a fortune. Instead, it was a clever strategy he used to take advantage of one of the most powerfully-disruptive forces in business.
You see, at the time the company was founded, men typically used a straight razor to shave their faces. The razor and the blade were attached.
When a blade got dull, you’d sharpen it. And eventually, when you couldn’t sharpen it anymore, you’d toss it out and buy a new one.
Gillette thought he could create a better solution. This solution would give men a super-sharp shave each day—without forcing them to keep sharpening their blade.
Simply put, Gillette decided to separate the razor from the blade. Instead of a single straight razor, men could now have a razor handle, and insert small blades into it. When the blade got dull after a shave or two, they could replace it with a new one.
This was a far better experience than sharpening an old blade every day.
But that’s not what made the company so successful...
A Powerful Disruptive Force
What made it so successful is how it sold its new product:
The company gave away the razor essentially for free, but charged for the blades.
And once someone owned a Gillette razor, they could only use it with Gillette blades. This created a customer for life.
We’ve seen this same business model work again and again for disruptive companies—for example:
- Mobile phone companies give away cell phones essentially for free, but they charge customers for the monthly plan.
- HP became one of the most profitable printer companies in the world—not because it sold so many printers, but because it sold so much ink.
You see, the company would sell its printers at a reduced cost, just enough to break even. But once customers had an HP printer, they’d be forced to buy HP ink—which was highly profitable for the company to sell.
- Google uses this “free” strategy in many of its markets. For example, with the launch of its GMail service, the company offered virtually unlimited email storage. At the time, incumbents like Yahoo, AOL and Hotmail dominated the email market. But GMail used “free” email to overtake them. It soon became the number one email provider in the country.
The company did the same thing with its Google Maps Service. By giving its turn-by-turn direction service away for free, Google disrupted the multi-billion dollar GPS navigation market. Ever since Google started giving away its product for free, former leaders like TomTom (a company that used to charge a premium for its product) have gotten pummeled. In fact, TomTom’s stock is down 86% since 2008.
As you can see, when a company can either:
- Give away all or a portion of its products for free...
- Or, reduce the cost of those products to almost nothing...
It can capture a great deal of market share, lock in customers for the long-term, and crush the existing competition.
The Next “Free” Success Story
As you’ll learn on tonight’s live (online) seminar, a new company is using this exact same strategy to disrupt one of the most important industries in our country.
In total, this market is worth $174 billion annually.
And not only do we believe this company could soon dominate it…
But when it does, we believe it could hand investors like you enormous gains.
In fact, we’re forecasting profits of 4,300% over the long-term...
And 300% within the next 30 days.
Again, you’ll learn all about this company and how to invest in it on tonight’s seminar—it starts promptly at 8:00 PM Eastern.
But remember, you should try to arrive at least 10 to 15 minutes early. These events tend to fill up quickly and our software can only handle 1,000 attendees.
See you on the seminar!
