Last month, Greg Isenberg was a tech entrepreneur who sold a messaging app to WeWork. Then, on April 5, he launched You Probably Need a Haircut — and within a day, he was the new master stylist of the virtual haircut economy.
For the legions of people kicking themselves for not scheduling a hair appointment in early March, the day of reckoning has come: It’s finally time to stop avoiding it. You have to cut your hair.
Popular haircut scissors are selling out, hair-dye panic-buying has begun, and companies are racing to crimp and curl a virtual haircut industry that basically did not exist 3 weeks ago.
You Probably Need a Haircut has a simple pitch: For a starting rate of $18, you can pick from around 2 dozen freelance barbers who will walk you through the ins and out of the self-cut on video chat.
Rest asheared, YPNAH isn’t the only option. For a modest fee, regular salons are tangling with Zoom and Skype appointments, too.
Not everyone is reaching for their safety scissors and nervously whispering “You’ve got this” into the mirror.
And if all else fails, try a family member: These days, even Daniel Day-Lewis is method-acting as a surprisingly effective barber.
Some are opting to buzz it all off. Others are letting it grow. But whatever you choose, wear it with pride — 2020 is sure to surpass the 1980s as the most disastrous era in American hairstyles.
Smile: You’re about to be part of history.