Charles HudsonFounder and Managing Partner, Precursor Ventures

Is DTC really dead?

23 Oct 2025 · 1 min

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Charles Hudson argues DTC physical-product brands are still growing despite investors calling the category dead. Constrained capital forces these companies to run disciplined, sustainable businesses. He continues investing in the sector and says more exit paths are needed for founder-built brands.

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They're physical products companies that sell direct to the consumer as one of their core channels. And, you know, two or three years ago, LPs would tell me, this category is dead. Why are you investing? I was like, well, nobody told the companies that the category is dead because they're still growing. And it's a category where it's really hard to get investor capital. So in some ways, you're sort of forced to run a good business. There's no other way. And it's one of those things where we've continued to invest in this category. And I feel really good about the companies that we're in. And I think having more exit paths for these companies is a good thing, because there are some of these brands who are where the founders are like, I put 10 years of my life into building this brand.