All Podcasts / How I Built This with Guy Raz / Dollar Shave Club: Michael Dubin, From Zero to a Billion Dollar Exit in Five Years (December 2018)
How I Built This with Guy Raz
How I Built This with Guy Raz

Dollar Shave Club: Michael Dubin, From Zero to a Billion Dollar Exit in Five Years (December 2018)

January 05, 2026 • 52m

Summary

⏱️ 14 min read

Overview

Michael Dubin shares how he built Dollar Shave Club from a chance encounter at a party into a billion-dollar company in just five years. The story reveals how eight years of improv comedy training and video marketing experience converged to create one of the most successful viral marketing campaigns in modern history, ultimately disrupting Gillette's monopoly on the razor market and leading to a 2016 acquisition by Unilever.

From NBC Page to Marketing Professional

Michael's career journey began with the NBC page program after graduating from Emory University with a history degree. He worked his way through various media roles at NBC, MSNBC, Time Inc., and Sports Illustrated, building microsites and learning digital marketing on the job. Throughout this period, he was simultaneously developing his comedy skills through improv classes at Upright Citizens Brigade in New York, attending classes multiple times per week for nearly eight years.

  • Started career as an NBC page after graduating from Emory University, working on shows like SNL and getting mini assignments across different departments
  • Moved from journalism at MSNBC to marketing, building microsites for brands like Gatorade and Sega at Life Magazine and Sports Illustrated
  • Took improv classes at Upright Citizens Brigade 2-3 nights per week for nearly eight years, watching comedians like Donald Glover perform
  • Got laid off from marketing job in New York and decided to move to Los Angeles with no plan or job, eventually landing at a video marketing agency
" UX, UI is a maze or a puzzle. That's what great architects do. That's what great restaurant designers do when they lay out a space or design a hotel lobby. They create these mazes for people to go in, and that's enormously satisfying when you can watch masses of people follow your lead. "
" Comedy is one of the hardest things to do, period. There's a setup, and then there's the equal sign, right? It A plus B plus C equals ha. And that takes magic. "

The Power of Improv and Storytelling

Michael's eight years of improv training, which seemed unrelated to business at the time, became his secret weapon. The skills of thinking on his feet, performing without fear, and understanding comedic timing directly translated to creating compelling brand content. He never imagined that taking improv classes for fun would become the foundation for disrupting a billion-dollar industry, but the combination of performance skills and marketing knowledge created something unique that traditional consumer goods companies couldn't replicate.

  • Spent eight years taking improv classes at Upright Citizens Brigade with no business plan, just passion for comedy
  • Watched legendary comedians like Donald Glover perform in basement shows, learning from the best
  • Improv became a way to blow off steam from stressful work days and provided an addictive creative high
  • Never conceived that improv training would help start a business - it was purely for personal enjoyment
" I would go to the Upright Citizens Brigade two, three nights a week and just watch the most amazing comedians perform. People that have gone on to have amazing careers, people like Donald Glover. You're watching six to ten people on a stage pull ideas out of thin air and weave them together into a story that makes you laugh. And when you get it right and when you do it well, it's a high. "

📚 8 more sections below

Sign up to unlock the complete summary with all insights, key points, and quotes

Listen on Apple Podcasts More Episodes from How I Built This with Guy Raz