Selling Naked: A Revolutionary Approach to Launching Your Brand Online

This is an excellent book if you have started or are considering launching a direct-to-consumer brand, or "selling naked." You can tell it was written by a founder for other founders - it is an honest approach that takes you step-by-step through what is necessary, both from a business perspective as well as a mental perspective. I am giving it 5-stars because of the tactical advice in the book. When launching a company nowadays, academic knowledge will only take you so far and it is the tactical advice and guidance that sets this book apart. The only criticism I may have is that Horwitz may underestimate the difficulty in raising significant investment capital as he is a big proponent of taking VC investment. But other than that, it is an excellent and useful read.

Just getting started and already can’t put it down. It is truly something every entrepreneur should be equipped with. I especially like the references used in this book to make it enjoyable and easy to navigate. If Selling Naked doesn’t get you excited to jump head first into the direct-to-consumer world I don’t know what will.

Selling Naked is a must-read for every aspiring or early-stage DTC founder. In starting companies, we all receive a ton of advice. The best advice usually comes from the people who have done it and done it recently. Reading Selling Naked is like having Jesse as your mentor. There are great suggestions for capital, marketing and metrics. Plus he helps prepare you for the mental and physical challenge. Even if you don’t take the same path Jesse took, you will pick up tools and insights you can immediately apply to make your path more successful.

Jesse is a gentleman and a scholar. If you want to start a healthcare dtc brand there’s honestly not a lot out there. I learned a lot from reading this and if you actually do want to start a healthcare dtc company you will learn a lot from this book!!

Great insights into DTC marketing and the new digitally native brands. Must read if you’re think about starting, investing in, or working for an interrupter brand.

Concise. Well-written. Informative. Interesting. Helpful. So many ways to describe this book. For any new entrepreneur, VC thinking about how to better assess companies or stale large corporation looking for a better way to do things - this book is for you. Highly recommend.

So you want to start a new business. Now what? If you want to sell directly to consumers with Facebook and Instagram ads driving customers to your website, read Selling Naked. It will prevent you from making mistakes made by failed businesses. It will also motivate you by including short bios of successful online companies like the author’s own contact lens company, Hubble.The ideas presented here are not new if you have read any other business start-up book. However, the companies used as examples are much more modern. Quip sells toothbrushes and toothpaste by subscription. Scentbird sells small bottles of perfume for $14.95 per month. There was a discussion of Unilever’s purchase of Dollar Shave Club, which explains why the razor prices went up so much.Overall, Selling Naked is best when showing how other companies have overcome the hurdles of start-ups. However, it also teaches about what metrics must be tracked and how to compute them. As the author states, “if you apply the principles in this book, you’ll at least stand a fighting chance. And, if nothing else, you won’t be bored.” I agree. 3 stars.Thanks to Currency, Crown Publishing and NetGalley for a copy in exchange for my honest review.

interesting info. but clearly this guy isn't ready to write a book - he wasn't sure of his message.there are some useful nuggets, to be sure. and it's an interesting 'right place, right time, right idea' success story.however, the author probably could have waited for his next success to share his thoughts.

Jesse does an amazing job using his experience to transparently share the truths behind building a consumer facing business. Whether you are looking to bootstrap or fundraise from investors he covers it all. One thing I absolutely love about this book is Jesse shares his trade secrets around everything from scaling customer support to thinking about the IRR for your business opportunity. I'm only on Page 153, but had to share this review since I will be ordering more copies for my team.