The survival of the fittest.

Come on this thread is worthy of speculation. He's not asking for a recommendation only how to succeed in a flooded market that quickly losing mainstream interest.

All the components we build are word of mouth because we cater to a unique audiophile whose only concern is the best sound.  When we started, I was politely introduced to marketing - the reviews are not free.  It is very political also.  Many of the products today are distributed by brick & mortar dealers.  Many brands have protected territories like Vandersteen, B&W, etc.  So shops marketed what they could get.  That has changed some where even PS Audio has now gone direct.  I spoke in length with VPI about this and they seems to imply that if they started today, they would also probably sell direct.

It is not easy to get your product to the market the old fashion way.  Very few dealers will take on a new company.  Who wants to take the chance to carry a product that may not be there a few years down the line.  A dealer also wants to show things that look very nice.  Aesthetic appeal is important.

When we looked to partner with a speaker company and started researching them, we found so many speaker companies that don't even have representation in the US, but they were fantastic sounding speakers.  I mean a hundred speaker manufacturers.  Ascendo was a speaker manufacturer that I liked.  They have been in the US with mostly in-home dealers.  When I contacted them, they seemed not be that interested and recommended another manufacturer that they liked for me to contact.  I found that very interesting.

So there are many factors for success and falling by the wayside.  Mostly money, distribution network and aesthetic appeal.

Happy Listening,

@amg56.  Okay, boomer. 

Your post was littered with gatekeeper statements and sweeping generalizations, as if somehow you determine what'd fit for discussion. I get that you feel the rhetoric has changed, but to decry more and more people asking questions as indicative of laziness and myopia as a stone that has stopped rolling. 

Some good insights here.  As someone who’s been around ( lower) high end since the 70s I think it’s offering something unique (whether real or not) that makes a good story - previously thru reviews and dealers - now through word of mouth on the internet.  
The also need to keep evolving as others will come after your space unless you have patents like Ohm. 
Was a big/early fan of DCM back in the day (going to school in Ann Arbor).  Great value and unique approach but didn’t follow it up and becomes just another speaker company over time... they might have been sold over that time too and lost the vision of the company founders...

Interesting thread. 

I an a volunteer at SCORE, which is an all volunteer organization and part of the Small Business Administration. I work with clients who wish to start or grow their small business. These folks range from people who who do not have a clue to those who will be successful. 

There seem to be some basic steps that all successful small businesses follow in the current internet capable society. Without getting into too many details, these folks have something that other people are willing to pay for and they have a knack for scaling their business to mesh with their available resources; which include dollars to invest on the business and their time available to devote to it. It is amazing the number of folks who start small and are on the way to success through word of mouth and an effective presence on Google, Facebook, Instagram, etc.

My opinion is that small speaker manufacturers can be very effective with word of mouth if they are willing to keep their day job for a while. 

A good example of this is Tyler Acoustics in Kentucky, which has no formal advertising except for occasionally offering models for sale on US Audio Mart and has a positive presence on various blogs including Audiogon. 

I ran across Tyler Acoustics while trolling the internet threads and called Ty and got to know him a bit when I was considering life after Maggie 3.6's. That did not pan out for him as I ended up going down the Thiel rabbit hole. However, I spoke with him again last fall and took delivery on a pair of his speakers this year. He still has his day job and still is building speakers that he will customize for a potential customer.

By the way, I am glad I tried his speakers because I like how they sound!

Thanks for listening,

Dsper