The DTC Roll-Up That Went Up in Flames

In 2021, Summit Partners — with $35B AUM and early bets on Uber and Klaviyo — looked like they’d cracked the code on DTC aggregation.

They rolled up Solo Stove, Chubbies, Oru Kayak, and Isle into a $300M bet.
The result: Solo Brands IPO’d at a $1.5B valuation.

Fast forward: the stock has been delisted, now valued at just $3M.
Summit still holds ~70%.

What happened?

The same thing that’s hurt many DTC plays post-COVID: high CAC, low retention, inflation headwinds, and fixed cost overhead on brands that looked better in Facebook dashboards than in operating models.

It’s a stark reminder that roll-ups only work if the core business can scale profitably.
Financial engineering alone won’t carry you across the finish line.

Mytheresa’s Luxury Power Play

While the DTC mid-market burns, the luxury end is doing something different — and working.

Mytheresa, a high-end fashion eCom player, has nearly tripled its stock in the past year.
Sales hit $1B, and it’s now profitable.

How?
By doing fewer things, better. Ultra-premium brand curation. White-glove customer experience. IRL activations featuring Michelin-star dinners and luxe accommodations.

Now, in a fascinating twist: they’re acquiring Yoox Net-a-Porter (YNAP) — a larger rival doing 3x the revenue, but still unprofitable after a $2B+ investment by Richemont.

The deal? YNAP trades all that scale for 33% of Mytheresa — and sends cash in the process.

Lesson: focus + discipline can trump scale + capital.
And sometimes, the lean operator buys the bloated incumbent.

True Classic: The TAM Train Keeps Rolling

In contrast to niche roll-ups and luxury boutiques, True Classic has gone mass — and won.

The men's basics brand just announced:

• $300M in revenue

• $30M+ in EBITDA

• A new PE deal valuing the company at $850M

Founded in 2019, they hit $100M in 2021, $200M in 2023, and haven’t looked back.

Their secret?
They didn’t fight TAM. They embraced it.

Instead of over-designing or over-branding, they solved a simple need (fitted tees) for a huge audience, with great unit economics and smart performance marketing.

Now they join the portfolio of 1686 Partners (also behind eyewear brand Ahlem and viral luxury house MSCHF), with capital to scale and stay profitable.

Podcast Recap: Fan Bi x Kelcey Lehrich (365 Holdings)

Do eCommerce HoldCOs Work?

This week on In the Money, I sat down with Kelcey Lehrich, CEO of 365 Holdings — one of the few eCom holdcos with real staying power.

We covered:

Why AI proficiency (not competition) matters for eCom teams

• The death of synergy myths in roll-ups — and why 365 now underwrites nothing but quality

• Why most eCom founders are already in special situations — they just don’t know it yet

• The hard truth about today’s exit environment: no EBIT = you're just selling inventory

• How 365 is navigating tariffs and reshoring with a ruthless focus on cash conversion

• The rise (and saturation risk) of the sauna + cold plunge category

This is a must-listen for anyone in or around consumer M&A right now. Watch on Youtube, listen on Spotify.

Takeaways:

1. Strategy > Size: Mytheresa proves you don’t need to be the biggest to win — just the most focused.

2. Profit > Price: True Classic shows that profitability still commands a premium.

3. Substance > Story: Solo Brands is a cautionary tale of chasing narratives, not margins.

4. Execution> Everything: From holdcos to hot tubs, it’s a game of operator edge.