The “Unit Economics” Abyss: Why 15-Minute Grocery Delivery Imploded (Getir
Metric The Instant Delivery Stats Key Players Getir, Gorillas, Gopuff, Flink Combined Funding >$14 Billion (2020–2022) Getir Valuation (Peak) $11.8
REFLECTIVE CORE
Failure Stories
Making mistakes usable. We treat failure not as an endpoint, but as a system breakdown—a result of assumptions, incentives, and timing interacting over time. Rather than asking who failed, we ask what failed first and why it wasn't corrected. This is forensic storytelling designed to help builders notice fragility early and intervene before momentum turns deceptive.
EDITORIAL LENS
- Initial Assumption
- Execution Reality
- Warning Signs
- Point of No Return
The Investigative Arc
Failure Stories
Failure Stories
The “Burning Brand” Fallacy: The Story of Fast (FinTech)
Metric The Fast Stats Company Name Fast Founder Domm Holland (CEO) & Allison Barr Allen Total Funding Raised ~$124 Million
Failure Stories
The “Cult of Personality” Crash: Adam Neumann & WeWork (Revisited)
Metric The WeWork Stats Company Name WeWork (The We Company) Founder Adam Neumann (Charismatic Leader) Total Funding Raised ~$22 Billion
Failure Stories
The “Solution in Search of a Problem”: The Juicero Legacy
Metric The Juicero Stats Company Name Juicero Founder Doug Evans Total Funding Raised ~$120 Million Valuation at Peak ~$400 Million
Failure Stories
The “Hardware Hubris” Trap: The ‘Humane AI Pin’ Post-Mortem
Metric The Humane Stats Company Name Humane Inc. Founders Imran Chaudhri & Bethany Bongiorno (ex-Apple design legends) Total Funding Raised
Failure Stories
The “COVID Winner” Curse: The $7.7 Billion Evaporation of Hopin
Metric The Hopin Stats Company Name Hopin Founder Johnny Boufarhat Total Funding Raised ~$1 Billion Valuation at Peak $7.75 Billion
Failure Stories
The “Full-Stack” Trap: Why Sprig Died Despite Being Loved
Metric The Sprig Stats Company Name Sprig Founder Gagan Biyani (ex-Udemy) Total Funding Raised ~$56.7 Million Valuation at Peak ~$110
Failure Stories
Webvan Collapse Explained: A Classic Product-Market Fit Failure
Why Webvan failed despite a huge market. Learn how skipping validation and scaling too early killed a $4.8B startup
Failure Stories
The ZIRP Hangover: Why Convoy failed After $1B+ Funding
Why Convoy failed despite $1B+ in funding? Learn how the end of ZIRP exposed weak unit economics and ended growth-at-all-costs
Failure Stories
Quibi Case Study: How $1.75 Billion Bought Conviction, Not Truth
A case study on Quibi’s $1.75B failure. How founder hubris, weak user behavior signals, and forced habits killed a funded
Failure Stories
Stories
How Good Companies Fail Slowly: The Decisions That Didn’t Look
Most companies don’t collapse because of a single catastrophic mistake.They collapse because of a series of reasonable decisions that accumulate
Comeback Stories
Failure Stories
Stories
How Founders Rebuild Confidence After Business Failure
Failure doesn’t just hit your business. It hits your confidence. After a major setback, founders don’t just question their strategy—they