Bevel - A Better Shaving System | Hacker News Reader

Bevel - A Better Shaving System

getbevel.com

9 pointsaterris25 comments

Needing an email address or watching a video before you get information about why this is better? Pass.

Not that the video is much help anyways.

Better shaving system? Tristan isn't offering anything new with Bevel or his umbrella co., egomaniacally named Walker Brands. I cannot believe that this guy got $2.4M in funding without proving the concept first. In fact, he barely had a deck when he was fundraising. So ridic. He plays the race card and is mostly fluff. He has no prior experience as a founder, no ecommerce experience, no consumer especially personal care/grooming experience. It's fucked up that someone like him got funding only because of his social connections and because he plays the race card - there are definitely other more qualified founders getting dissed who have better business models, proof of concept, relevant experience, etc.

LoL your post is funny...

Naming a company with your last name automatically makes you an egomaniac now? How is this any different from the thousands of other companies and charities named after founders? I never hear any of them criticized for their names.

What race card is he playing by looking to provide solutions to a group under served by an industry? Black men do have some unique hair/skincare/health challenges. Seems like a good vertical... but I can also understand why vc's may not see that upfront. That can be solved with execution.

No experience? Killed it at Foursquare, didn't he? That's gotta count for something. Plus, plenty of first time founders come right out of undergrad, sometimes not even finishing. You usually don't hear the "no experience" thing in those cases though.

The "he used his social connections" thing is pretty hilarious being that the majority of founders make and use relationships to increase chances of getting funded or getting introduced to vc's and angels. Since when is this considered a bad thing?

There's always going to be a better idea and a more qualified guy doing xyz around the corner. What else is new?

Who is this "we" that the website and the video reference? It might be nice if they more precisely defined their target customer.

I got into safety razor shaving in high school. It feels pretty nice, looks classy, and is a lot cheaper than Mach5 or whatever they are selling now. Now I just use an electric shaver because it's so much faster.

My assumption is their target market is the African American community. It looks like a razor specifically designed for the face of an African American man.

That's a very good target Market. Some people with African genetics tend to develop a lot of scar tisses from otherwise miner nicks.

http://www.nhs.uk/Livewell/skin/Pages/Keloidscarring.aspx

wow, you're ignorant. it's a safety razor.

Yes, but the language of the ad pretty clearly targets black people. Maybe the razor itself isn't particularly innovative, but perhaps the rest of the "system" offers some benefits. There already exist many "black" shaving products that claim to help reduce razor bumps and ingrown hairs.

This line would certainly work for anyone. But "we" is referring to those prone to getting razor bumps and irritation in general from other shaving tools & products. This issue disproportionately plagues folks with coarse/curly hair and consequently 80% of black men.

In the video for Walker and Company (owner of Bevel), it says that the company's mission is to make health and beauty simple for people of color.

http://walkerandcompany.com/

It's a safety razor?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Safety_razor

I was thinking the same - no real information on the site, but I did notice that the guy flipped the razor when performing a second pass? Probably just the video showing it is double sided just like a safety razor.

Yeah, I normally do two swipes then rinse to get rid of my manly beard deposits.

$60 for a starter kit for the safety razor, brush and some cosmetics. $30/month thereafter for... I dunno. More cosmetics and some spare blades, I guess.

$60 for the starter kit doesn't sound insane, to be fair...

For what it's worth, I got a perfectly good safety razor and some blades shipped from Hong Kong via eBay for $10-$12. Works like a charm.

$30/month is insanity. You can get high quality creams for much less.

I thought there were rules against spam? This is a pretty version of the safety razor.

Yes, they work well. Yes, they cause fewer ingrown hairs. No, they don't last as long as multi-blades. No, they don't work on as scruffy a beard. No, this isn't the only place that sells them you can get any number of these at Walgreen's.

I thought this might be interesting and relevant to HN as the first product of a new startup with the goal of expanding into a full fledged CPG company out of SV.

I also thought the launch, marketing and focus on men and women of color were interesting. Maybe I should have posted this link instead which provides some extra context

http://allthingsd.com/20131218/tristan-walkers-next-act-buil...

> No, they don't work on as scruffy a beard

I really like safety razors for scruffy beards. The only more effective alternative would be a straight razor.

> you can get any number of these at Walgreen's.

FWIW, Not sure this is actually true. I'm pretty sure no mass market retailer sells safety razors anymore in store. It's been that way for many years. In fact, the last time I checked, none of my local walgreens, CVS, or walmarts, even sell DE blades in store. That could change if this becomes popular again.

You'd be wrong. http://www.walgreens.com/search/results.jsp?Ntt=safety+razor

All out of stock, all not sold in stores. He's right.

It's not even that pretty Have a look at the Merkur "Futur" DE razor in satin or better yet, gold finish. There are tons of nice looking razors around, including some from the early part of the 20th century. You never know, maybe their products or marketing will work.

$60 for a high quality kit seems good. $30/monthly? I don't know if I shave enough to justify that personally. I just remember having like 5 unopened cases of Proactiv back in the day... as the postman delivered the next shipment lol.

Btw, Tristan Walker (guy behind this venture) was one of Foursquare's 1st employees. Nice guy and smart as hell. The launch campaign he's rolling out seems to be well executed. Wish them the best...

nothing new here. i've been applying shaving soap with a badger hair brush and using a safety razor for years.

i guess startups are at the point where reintroducing "old" technology is the new thing? this market is FLOODED with competition, good luck.

This is a huge problem for me. Excited to see how this works!

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