Walker & Company / Bevel
After a disastrous shaving experience that left his face in terrible condition, Tristan vowed never to shave again. But this personal pain point revealed a much larger market opportunity: men of color across the country were frustrated by the lack of shaving products designed for coarse or curly hair. What started as a personal problem became the inspiration for an entire brand.
It took fifteen years and countless meetings with doubtful investors before Tristan finally launched Bevel, a subscription shaving system built around a single-blade razor specifically designed for the needs of his community. The initial product gained traction, proving there was real demand for a solution tailored to this underserved market.
Walker & Company grew far beyond its original razor offering, eventually expanding to include 36 hair and beauty products used by millions of men and women across the U.S. In 2018, the company was acquired by Procter & Gamble, and Tristan became P&G's first black CEO—a remarkable achievement that validated both his original vision and the market he had identified.
- •Solving a deeply personal pain point that affected an entire underserved demographic created a defensible market opportunity with genuine demand rather than manufactured need.
- •The subscription model aligned perfectly with a grooming category where repeat purchases were inevitable, enabling predictable recurring revenue while building customer loyalty.
- •Persisting through 15 years of investor rejection demonstrated conviction in the market insight, which eventually attracted the right capital and partners who believed in the vision.
- •Expanding from a single-product solution (the razor) to a full 36-product ecosystem allowed the company to capture more customer lifetime value and become an essential brand within its community.
- 1.Identify a specific demographic or community experiencing a concrete, recurring problem in their daily life that existing mainstream products fail to address adequately.
- 2.Launch with a single flagship product that solves that core problem exceptionally well rather than attempting a full product line, then validate market demand before expanding.
- 3.Build a subscription business model around products with natural replenishment cycles so that customer acquisition effort compounds into predictable recurring revenue over time.
- 4.Plan for a phased product expansion roadmap where you add complementary products only after proving traction with your initial offering, allowing you to serve the full ecosystem of your customer's needs.
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