MIUZU

Company valuations need a new paradigm.  The driving forces of securities investment need reinvention.

In  a brilliant piece in the Financial Post, Roger Martin (Dean of U of Toronto’s biz school) illuminates the hazards implicit in the current market orientation toward expectations rather than results.  Read the article now!  He articulates so well how business stakeholders, almost always equipped with company stock, will favor the growth of shareholder value – sometimes at the expense of the long-term viability of the company.  Part of the reason the economy is in such a pickle is because the perception of future value has fallen so out of touch with real market value…or authentic potential future value.  Either expectations are wildly oversold, or wildly undersold.  And the incentive systems in place reward deceptive practices by those in the best position to influence broad opinion.

In retrospect, there is more to say about the benefits available in a re-orientation as suggested.  Imagine the effect on innovation; the birth and commercialization of new ideas…

Today, the bulk of securities investment is directed toward the upticks and downticks of stable, and generally successful companies – and whose balance sheets are largely unwavering.  The big wins have already been won.  The company is already mainstream.

Yet, there are so many small companies with important ideas and revolutionary commercial propositions that are desperate for capital, and cannot find it.  They possess the greatest real market growth potential.  We’ve all heard the cliches: “imagine if you bought Microsoft in ’84.”

Forgive me my bias – we’re loaded with potential and short on cash.

Now, imagine how innovation would spike and how the competitiveness of the economy would be invigorated, if the influx of investment capital went to the real market growth opportunities.

It would be a very different world.  And a whole lot more exciting.

Dave

In his recent New Yorker article, HOW DAVID BEATS GOLIATH, Malcolm Gladwell has identified the genius in ‘being different.’

In this piece, Gladwell describes the game tactics of an under-skilled girls’ basketball team in Silicon Valley.  They achieved incredible success against ‘superior’ teams by breaking with convention: after losing possession of the ball, instead of retreating back to their end to align and prepare for the other team’s offensive, they stay on the attack in the opposition’s end. This is called a “full court press.”  It can effectively squelch the opposing team’s attempts to setup down-court offensive plays. Although totally legal, it’s not how the game is traditionally played.  And that’s the trick – it throws the opposition off their game.

The article draws a parallel between this unconventional game tactic and the biblical tale of David and Goliath – how a small and poorly furnished warrior defeats a well equipped giant.

You might be wondering, “Dave, there are no giants in the pleasure products industry! How is this story relevant to your business?”  Yes, MIUZU has competitors.  Lots of them.  But the battle is not between us.

We are all in a battle together against something much more monstrous than any one of us.  Our opponent is conventional thought about sex, pleasure, and intimacy.  More specifically, the enemy is fear, ignorance,  and arcane belief.  We must draw our audience into a new conversation – one that is easy and compelling to have, rather than uncomfortable and scary.

Read our “About Us” page, and this should make more sense…

Dave

Earlier today, I was flipping through Nico (a Euro fashion magazine) and found an interview of Sam Roddick of Coco de Mer.  For anyone who doesn’t know the name, Coco de Mer is the premier luxury sex boutique in the world.  Sam opened the first shop in London a few years ago. Now, on top of a burgeoning presence in the UK, they have a shop in Los Angeles.

Anyways…

The interview was brilliant – it looked past the aura of the Roddick name to the mindset that brought Sam to the “love” biz.  It’s evidence of what can happen when brains and confidence come of age. Sam was driven not by profit, but by a more meaningful desire. And given the Roddick legacy, it couldn’t have been without some serious reflection that Sam chose this direction for her career.  But Sam saw a chance to have a positive impact on the world, and went for it…with gusto.   Through it all, Sam has gotten to know herself very well. And when you meet her, it shows.

Not everyone is cut out for this business, and it’s certainly not yet mainstream. So it’s hard not to admire those who have taken it on from unlikely beginnings.

But it’s all in how you do it.  And there’s scarce pickin’s if you’re looking for people/companies that are executing with a good measure of taste.  Most of what you see is trashy and vulgar.

Not so with Coco de Mer.  What Sam (and her sis Justine) have created is a bit of a sex fashion oasis in the middle of a desert of cheap jelly products and shoddy lingerie.

Being way more enthused about contemporary stying and design (think Scandanavian), I’m not a huge fan of the Victorian qualities of the Coco de Mer collection. However, I am a HUGE fan of the sensibilities of the founders, the intent of the stores, and the effect of making sex products aspirational rather than just titillating. This underscores a different relationship between us humans and one of our most sought-after pastimes.

Thanks Sam, and Justine too.

Dave