[gprisament]

I think design and profit margins go hand-in-hand. If you have a low margin business selling something cheap in large volume then design doesn't matter so much. If you want to sell higher margin, boutique, premium goods then design matters more (hence the word "designer").

[lsc]

I would expand this further and say that the more margin you want, the more you need to spend on marketing in general. Marketing a product that is obviously similar to but cheaper than the competition is easier/cheaper than marketing a high margin product.

Note, I would be careful to not confuse margin and profit. Volume can often make up for a lower margin.

[kadavy]

Sounds pretty realistic, but I wonder what the profit margin is for Sriracha sauce. It seems like a pretty recognizable brand - and a recognizable brand usually = higher profit margin.

[brandnewlow]

Going to take a shot in the dark and say hi, greg.

[gprisament]

holy cow! hey Brad... it's funny who you run into on hn!