Archive

Brand Story

Deep dives into Brand Story and related business strategies.

The Ultimate Revenge: How an Insult Created Lamborghini
Brand Story

The Ultimate Revenge: How an Insult Created Lamborghini

Analyst Breakdown

  • At a Glance: The Spite Stats | Metric | Details | | :--- | :--- | | The Outsider | Ferruccio Lamborghini | | The "King" | Enzo Ferrari | | The Spark | A broken clutch & a rude insult | | The Innovation | Putting a tractor clutch in a race car | | The Result | Creating the world's first "Supercar" (The Miura) | The Hook: The $10 Clutch in a $10,000 Car In 1958, Ferruccio Lamborghini was a wealthy man
  • He wasn't royalty, and he wasn't a race car driver
  • He was a mechanic
Destiny Merie Destiny Merie Jan 2026
The Cup of Coffee That Healed a Broken Family: How Trauma Built the Starbucks Empire
Brand Story

The Cup of Coffee That Healed a Broken Family: How Trauma Built the Starbucks Empire

Analyst Breakdown

  • At a Glance: The Hustle Stats | Metric | Details || :--- | :--- || Visionary | Howard Schultz || Original Product | Whole beans only (No cups of coffee) || The "Low Point" | 217 investors said "No" to the idea || The Risk | Closing 7,100 stores simultaneously in 2008 || The Result | 35,000+ Stores & $100B+ Valuation | Most people think Starbucks was built on roasted beans and caffeine
  • They are wrong
  • Starbucks was built on the memory of a broken man lying on a couch in the Brooklyn projects, staring at the ceiling with a cast on his leg, wondering how he would feed his children
Destiny Merie Destiny Merie Jan 2026
From "Idiocracy" to Icon: The Incredible Turnaround Story of Crocs
Brand Story

From "Idiocracy" to Icon: The Incredible Turnaround Story of Crocs

Analyst Breakdown

  • At a Glance: The Brand Profile | Metric | Details | | :--- | :--- | | Founders | Scott Seamans, Lyndon "Duke" Hanson, George Boedecker Jr
  • | | Founded | 2002 (Boulder, Colorado) | | The "Product" | The "Beach" Clog (made of Croslite foam) | | The Low Point | Near bankruptcy in 2008-2009 | | The Turning Point | Embracing the "ugly" and focusing on personalization (Jibbitz) | | Current Status | A $6+ Billion Global Fashion Powerhouse | The Hook: The Shoe Everyone Loved to Hate In 2006, if you wore Crocs in public, you were making a statement
  • And that statement was usually, "I have given up
Destiny Merie Destiny Merie Jan 2026