music razor between 對待 socks man 最大 pst 方法

knuckle down

英 [?n?kl daun]

美 [?n?k?l da?n]

v.	認輸; （向某人） 屈服; 開始認真工作;

[例句]The only thing to do was knuckle down and get on with some serious hard work 唯一能做的就是開始努力工作，好好幹出點兒成績來。

https://www.economist.com/books-and-arts/2018/05/10/to-master-a-language-start-learning-it-early

https://danci.911cha.com/take+the+plunge.html

E-commerce

電子商務

Briefs encounter

簡短的邂逅

“Direct-to-consumer” startups are upending the consumer-goods industry

“直接面對消費者”的創業公司正在顛覆消費品行業

Print edition | Business Nov 16th 2017

IN MANY ways, Tommy John, a startup based in Manhattan, resembles a tech company straight out of Silicon Valley. On its website the venture-backed firm touts

its innovative materials and patented designs. When recruiting talent, it describes itself as “disruptive” and “revolutionary”. But Tommy John does not deal in computer hardware, software or any other kind of technology. It makes men’s underwear.

從很多方面看，曼哈頓的創業公司Tommy John都像是一家來自矽谷的科技公司。這家由風投支持的公司在其網站上推銷著自己的創新材料和專利設計

。招聘人才時，它自稱是一家“顛覆性”和“革命性”的公司。但Tommy John經營的並不是電腦硬件、軟件或其他技術，而是男士內衣。

m tout

verb
1. Tto praise something or someone in order to persuade people that they are important or worth a lot贊揚; 吹捧:

• •his much touted musical他那出備受推崇的音樂劇

be touted as sth

• •Nell is being touted as the next big thing in Hollywood.內爾被捧為好萊塢的明日之星。

1. 2. I,Tespecially BrEto try to persuade people to buy goods or services you are offering兜售，推銷（商品或服務）:
   tout for business / custom BrE ( =look for customers ) 拉生意/招徠顧客:

• •Minicab drivers are not allowed to tout for business.接受電話預訂的出租車司機不允許私自拉生意。

1. 3. I,TAmEto give someone information about a horse in a race（向…）提供賽馬情報

m disruptive

adjective
1. causing problems and preventing something from continuing in its usual way引起混亂的，擾亂性的，搗亂的:
[+ to ]

• •Night work can be very disruptive to home life.夜間工作會給家庭生活帶來很大的麻煩。
• •Mike‘s parents thought I was a disruptive influence (=a person who causes disruption) .邁克的父母認為我在搗亂。
• •ways to handle pildisruptive pus 對付搗亂學生的辦法

Following the example of successful e-commerce brands such as Warby Parker, a glasses firm, and Casper, a mattress-maker, a growing number of startups are reimagining everyday household items—from pants and socks to toothbrushes and cookware. These “direct-to-consumer” (DTC) companies bypass conventional retailers and bring their products straight to customers via their online stores. They began several years ago to catch the attention of venture-capital (VC) firms, which have poured in more than $3bn since 2012. But the success of some DTC firms has attracted a lot of wannabes, making this a crowded market and leaving some wondering whether the boom has reached its limits.

越來越多的創業公司效仿有眼鏡公司Warby Parker和床墊制造商Casper等成功電商品牌，它們正重新定義日常生活用品，例如褲子、襪子、牙刷、廚具等等。這些“直接面對消費者”（direct-to-consumer，DTC）的公司繞過傳統零售商，通過網店直接把產品賣給消費者。它們在幾年前起步，力圖吸引風投公司的註意。自2012年起，註入這類公司的風投已超過30億美元。但一些DTC公司的成功吸引了很多效仿者，令該市場變得非常擁擠，也讓一些人懷疑這種繁榮是否已達到了極限。

m reimagine

reinterpret (an event, work of art, etc. ) imaginatively

重新想像; 重新設想（事件、藝術品等）。

m bypass

verb T
1. to go around a town or other busy place rather than through it避開; 繞…而行:

• •Interstate 8 bypasses the town to the north.八號州際公路繞開小鎮，通向北面。

1. 2. to avoid obeying a rule, system, or someone in an official position繞過〔規定、制度或某個官員〕:

• •Francis bypassed his manager and wrote straight to the director.弗朗西斯繞過他的經理，直接寫信給董事。

m wannabe

noun Cinformal
1. someone who tries to look or behave like someone famous or like a particular type of successful person, because they want to be like them – usually used to show disapproval仿效名人（富人）的人〔一般含貶義〕;
⇒would-be:

• •A load of Michael Schumacher wannabes are trying to show what they can do on the track.許多人效仿邁克爾·舒馬赫，也想在賽車場上表現一下自己。
• •wannabe pop stars想當流行歌星的人

The DTC business model first emerged in product areas dominated by slow-moving incumbents with hefty profit margins, such as spectacles and razor blades. In 2010 Gillette, the world’s largest razor-blade-maker, enjoyed 70% of the American market and gross margins as high as 60%. Since then, Dollar Shave Club and Harry’s, two subscription services that sell blades at a fraction of the price of big brands, have amassed more than 5m customers. Gillette’s market share has fallen to 54%.

DTC商業模式最初出現在由行動遲緩、利潤極高的老牌企業主導的產品領域，比如眼鏡和剃須刀片。2010年，全球最大的剃須刀片制造商吉列占據美國市場70%的份額，毛利潤高達60%。在這之後，兩大訂購服務商Dollar Shave Club和Harry’s以相當於大品牌售價很小一部分的價格銷售刀片，已經積累了五百多萬用戶。吉列的市場份額已降至54%。

m incumbent

adjective formal
1. it is incumbent upon / on sb to do sth if it is incumbent upon you to do something, it is your duty or responsibility to do it做某事是某人的職務（責任）:

• •It is incumbent upon parents to control what their children watch on TV.控制孩子所看電視的內容是父母的責任。

1. 2. the incumbent president / priest / government etc the president etc at the present time現任總統/現任牧師/本屆政府等

noun Cformal
1. someone who has been elected to an official position, especially in politics, and who is doing that job at the present time在職者，現任者〔尤指政治職位〕:

• •In the June elections, Morris easily defeated the incumbent, Tom Smith.在 6 月的大選中，莫裏斯輕松擊敗了現任者 — 湯姆·史密斯。

m amass

verb T
1. if you amass money, knowledge, information etc, you gradually collect a large amount of it積聚，積累，大量收集:

• •For 25 years, Darwin amassed evidence to support his theories.在 25 年裏，達爾文收集了大量的證據來支持自己的理論。
• •He amassed a fortune after the war.戰後，他積累了大量財富。

Hubble Contacts, founded in 2016, wants to do the same to the $8bn contact-lens industry, which is dominated by giants such as Johnson & Johnson and Bausch + Lomb. Lenses are well-suited to the DTC model, being a commoditised product that customers purchase on a regular basis, says Jesse Horwitz, one of Hubble’s founders. The startup is on track to generate $20m in sales in 2017 and has attracted money from several VC firms.

成立於2016年的哈勃隱形眼鏡公司（Hubble Contacts）想在價值80億美元的隱形眼鏡行業做出同樣的成績，該行業由強生和博士倫等巨頭主導。哈勃的創始人之一傑西·霍維茨（Jesse Horwitz）說，隱形眼鏡是一種客戶會定期購買的日用品，因而很適合DTC模式。這家創業公司2017年的營業額可能將達到2000萬美元，並且已獲得多家風投公司的投資。

m commoditize

使商品化：As time has become broken into variable length blocks,it has become commoditized.由於時間已被拆解成不同長度的區段，因而也被商品化了。

Startups that cannot undercut incumbents on price must differentiate themselves in other ways. Casper won over many shoppers by getting rid of the worst bits of the bed-buying process, including choosing among dozens of similar products and haggling with pushy salesmen. Allbirds, a two-year-old San Francisco-based firm that makes all-wool trainers, has tweaked the design of its shoes 27 times based on feedback from customers.

那些無法以低價與傳統企業競爭的創業公司必須用其他方式實現差異化。Casper消除了買床的過程中最糟糕的部分，比如在數十種類似的產品中挑選、與咄咄逼人的推銷員討價還價，以此贏得了許多購物者的青睞。舊金山一家成立了兩年的公司Allbirds生產純羊毛運動鞋，公司根據客戶的反饋，對鞋的設計做了27次調整。

m undercut

verb (past tense and past participle undercut) , present participle undercutting T
1. to sell goods or a service at a lower price than another company削價與…搶生意;SYNundersell

• •Online bookstores can undercut retailers by up to 30%.網上書店最多能以低於零售店 30% 的價格銷售。

1. 2. to make something weaker or less effective削弱; 使降低效率;SYNundermine

• •Is a lack of self-confidence undercutting your performance at work?是不是缺乏自信影響了你的工作成績？

m differentiate

verb
1. I,Tto recognize or express the difference between things or people辨別，區別;SYNdistinguish
[+ between ]

• •It‘s important to differentiate between fact and opinion.把事實和觀點加以區別很重要。

differentiate sth from sth

• •It‘s sometimes hard to differentiate one sample from another.有時候很難把樣品一個個區分開來。

1. 2. Tto be the quality, feature etc that makes one thing or person clearly different from another構成…間的差別，使…不同於;SYNdistinguish

• •What differentiates these two periods of history?是什麽使這兩段歷史時期有所不同？

differentiate sth from sth

• •Its unusual nesting habits differentiate this bird from others.這種鳥獨特的築巢習慣使它不同於其他的鳥。

1. 3. Ito behave differently towards someone or something, especially in an unfair way區別對待〔尤指不公平對待〕;SYNdiscriminate
   [+ between ]

• •a policy which differentiates between men and women對於男女區別對待的政策

m haggle

verb I
1. to argue when you are trying to agree about the price of something講價，討價還價:
[+ over ]

• •tourists haggling over the price of souvenirs為紀念品討價還價的遊客

[+ with ]

• •Ted was haggling with the street vendors.特德正在和街邊小販討價還價。

m tweak

verb T
1. to suddenly pull or twist something，擰，扭:

• •She leant forward and tweaked both ends of his moustache.她俯身向前，揪住他的兩撇胡子。

1. 2. to make small changes to a machine, vehicle, or system in order to improve the way it works對〔機器、汽車或系統〕作小小的改進:

• •Maybe you should tweak a few sentences before you send in the report.報告交上去之前，有幾個句子你也許應該修改一下。

Investors say branding and marketing are crucial if DTC startups are to make it. Sophie Bakalar of Collaborative Fund, a VC firm, says that brand is the first thing her team looks for in a consumer startup. Suitcases made by Away, a firm founded by two Warby Parker alumnae, have been featured in Vogue and endorsed by celebrities such as Karlie Kloss, a supermodel. But most customers learn about the brand on social media, where globe-trotting millennials share images of their bags, artfully displayed on hotel-room beds or rolling in front of iconic landmarks. Away’s social-media team collects and redistributes these posts on its Instagram account, which boasts 140,000 followers. This year the firm expects to generate $50m in sales.

投資者表示，DTC創業公司要獲得成功，打造品牌和營銷至關重要。風投公司Collaborative Fund的蘇菲·巴喀勒（Sophie Bakalar）說，她的團隊對消費品創業公司期望的第一樣東西就是品牌。從Warby Parker離職的兩位員工創立了行李箱公司Away，他們的產品登上了《Vogue》，超模卡莉·克勞斯（Karlie Kloss）等名人也為其做了宣傳。但大多數客戶是通過社交媒體了解這個品牌的。環遊世界的千禧一代將自己箱包的照片發布在社交媒體上，在照片中，他們或是將行李箱精心地擺放在酒店房間的床上，或是拖著箱子經過各地標誌性的景觀。Away的社交媒體團隊收集這些帖子，並用公司的Instagram賬號（目前有14萬粉絲）重新發布。這家公司今年的銷售額預計將達到5000萬美元。

For all the buzz surrounding such online brands, they face high hurdles. Investors worry about a glut of startups, which makes it difficult to stand out. “The challenge is rising above the noise,” says Kirsten Green of Forerunner Ventures, an early investor in companies like Bonobos, a clothing retailer. Some DTC firms insist on focusing on a single item in the bedroom, kitchen or bathroom, when they would do better to offer a stable of products.

雖然這些在線品牌備受追捧，但它們也面臨很大的困難。投資者擔心創業公司過多，很難脫穎而出。Forerunner Ventures的克斯汀·格林（Kirsten Green）說：“挑戰在於如何突出重圍。”這家公司是服裝零售商Bonobos等公司的早期投資者。一些DTC公司堅持專註於臥室、廚房或浴室中的某件用品上，然而如果它們選擇提供更多種類的產品，也許會發展得更好。

m hurdle

noun
1. Ca problem or difficulty that you must deal with before you can achieve something障礙，困難;SYNobstacle

• •Finding enough money for the project was the first hurdle.首先需要克服的困難是為該項目籌措足夠的資金。
• overcome / clear / get over etc a hurdle ( = deal successfully with a problem )成功克服困難

Moreover, the giants of consumer goods and retailing, initially slow to respond to competition from these upstarts, have wised up. They are reacting in two ways. The first is to make it easier to buy their goods, both by expanding their own DTC distribution, as Procter & Gamble (which owns Gillette) does, and by working more closely with Amazon.

而且，消費品和零售業巨頭一開始還對來自新興企業的競爭反應遲緩，但現在已認清了現狀。它們的應對方式有兩種。一種是讓消費者更容易買到自己的產品，具體方法就是像寶潔（旗下擁有吉列公司）那樣拓展自己的DTC分銷渠道，以及與亞馬遜更緊密地合作。

m wise up

wise up informal
to realize the truth about a bad situation知道，了解〔糟糕的真相〕:

• •Wise up, Vic – he‘s cheating you!清醒點，維克 — 他是在騙你！

[+ to ]

• •Consumers need to wise up to the effect that advertising has on them.消費者應當正確認識廣告對自己產生的影響。

That may not be good news for the startups, but the big firms’ second tactic is what the founders of every new DTC firm, and their VC backers, dream of: spending big to acquire young rivals. Unilever, for instance, paid $1bn for Dollar Shave Club in 2016; Walmart spent $310m to acquire Bonobos in June; and this week P&G said it was buying Native, a DTC deodorant brand, for an undisclosed sum.

這對創業公司來說可能不是好消息，但大公司的第二種策略卻是所有DTC新公司及其風險投資人都夢寐以求的：花大價錢買下年輕對手。比如，2016年聯合利華以10億美元收購了Dollar Shave Club；沃爾瑪今年6月斥資3.1億美元收購了Bonobos；11月寶潔稱正在收購DTC香體露品牌Native，具體金額未披露。

This spending spree explains why optimism still abounds, even as more startups jostle to carve out a niche. The consumer-goods business remains gripped by a “DTC revolution”, says Emily Heyward of Red Antler, a branding agency. A comforting thought for buyers of briefs.

這一收購熱潮解釋了為什麽你推我搡、爭相闖出一片天地的創業公司越來越多，樂觀情緒卻依然盛行。品牌設計公司Red Antler的艾米麗·海沃德（Emily Heyward）說，消費品行業仍然深受“DTC革命”的影響。對內褲買家來說，這頗令人寬慰。

m spree

noun C
1. a short period of time when you do a lot of one activity, especially spending money or drinking alcohol作樂，狂歡〔尤指花錢或喝酒〕:
on a spree

• •They went on a drinking spree .他們去痛痛快快地喝了一通。
• •a shopping spree 瘋狂購物

m niche

noun
1. Cif you find your niche, you find a job or activity that is very suitable for you合適（稱心）的工作（活動）:

• •Amanda soon found her niche at the club.阿曼達很快就在俱樂部裏找到了一份理想的工作。
• •He‘s managed to create a niche for himself in local politics.他終於在當地政界為自己謀到一份稱心的差事。

1. 2. sing.an opportunity to sell a product or service to a particular group of people who have similar needs, interests etc〔產品或服務的〕商機; 市場定位:
   [+ in ]

• •He spotted a niche in the market .他發現了市場中的一個商機。

6.21外刊打卡4