8VC's Drew Oetting on backing Quince at seed: the $10B DTC retailer the Valley overlooked

Summary

Drew Oetting backed Quince at seed, a decision that looked contrarian at the time but has proven prescient. The direct-to-consumer apparel and home goods retailer grew 100% year over year last year and is now a top 10 U.S. retailer by repeat ordering. That position is remarkable for a DTC business since the other top 10 all benefit from grocery or pharma categories that drive monthly purchasing frequency.

Finding the founder

Oetting met Sid, Quince's founder, years earlier when Sid was running Lolly and Pops, a luxury candy company. Oetting was impressed by Sid's operational thinking but initially tried to steer him toward defense tech or manufacturing, the kind of thematic bets typical for 8VC. Oetting eventually committed to backing whatever Sid wanted to build. When Sid pitched what was then called Lastbrand (now Quince), Oetting backed him. The bet paid off partly because Oetting focused on founder quality rather than forcing the company into a predetermined category thesis.

Operational discipline

The business started working early, but the real inflection came post-COVID. Quince brings in high volumes of products at quality while maintaining extraordinary retention and repeat purchasing. The company is cash generative at a multibillion-dollar scale, with operating expenses so low that nearly every marketing dollar spent generates cash.

AI and supply chain

Oetting sees AI's biggest impact not in consumer-facing features but in supply chain and operational efficiency. Rather than lifting DTC margins from a theoretical 20-30% ceiling, AI will push that higher. Quince's founder has already deployed AI across procurement, logistics, and marketing efficiency. The company's low operating expenses and precisely dialed-in sales and marketing spend are what let it compound so fast.

Broader startup implications

Oetting is increasingly bullish on consumer and CPG founders, particularly those already operating with extreme capital efficiency out of Austin. AI may finally unlock higher margins for physical product companies, meaning founders with the right operator can spend more on marketing, quality, and growth simultaneously. He is also noticing a shift in reindustrialization plays. Traditional software thinking no longer applies. Companies building energy, cement, steel, and copper infrastructure now often have cofounding CFOs or investment banking partners. Capital allocation, not engineering speed, is the critical lever. A decade ago, Oetting would have dismissed a CFO cofounder. Today, when startups are raising $500 million for facility financing, that financial sophistication is table stakes.