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You'll Totally Believe Why These Startups Failed

Posted by samzenpus on from the not-the-best-idea dept.

Nerval's Lobster writes: If you ever wanted a glimpse into what dooms startups, look no further than autopsy.io, a website that lists the reasons why many newborn tech firms imploded. The website offers entrepreneurs the ability to self-explain why their startup didn't quite make it; in a bid to separate real-life stories from entertaining fictions, the application form asks for a link to a blog post or medium article "that tells the story of the failure," along with the founder(s) Twitter handle and Crunchbase or Angel.co profile. Some of the reasons listed for failure are maddeningly opaque, such as UniSport's "for a number of reasons" or PlayCafe's "we didn't reach enough users." Others are bleakly hilarious; as the founders of Zillionears, self-billed as a "creative pre-sale platform for musicians," confessed: "People really didn't really LIKE anything about our product." If you're thinking of launching your own company, or you work for a wet-behind-the-ears startup, it's worth scanning the list to see if any of these potential crises are brewing in your setup.

4 of 151 comments (clear)

  1. What happens when autopsy.io goes belly up by Spy+Handler · · Score: 5, Funny

    where will the founder explain how it died?

  2. Damn the torpedos full speed ahead by skids · · Score: 5, Funny

    If you're thinking of launching your own company... it's worth scanning the list to see if any of these potential crises are brewing in your setup.

    I thought the whole point was to jump in head-first and just hope the thing gets bought by an aquisitions team from an established company or pull all the copper out of the walls on your way out and end up breaking even (and therefore having employed yourself for a year or three.)

    --
    Someone had to do it.
  3. Slashdot by sir_eccles · · Score: 4, Funny

    Slashdot - news for nerds, "got bought by dice.com"

  4. Re:Mmm, clickbait by neilo_1701D · · Score: 4, Funny

    You'll Totally Believe Why These Startups Failed

    Was it because they were in the business of generating clickbait headlines?

    If that was the case, the headline would be more like :
    "You won't believe the one simple trick these guys didn't know before starting a business"
    "UNBELIEVABLE! This one website might SAVE your business!"
    "4 in 5 business owners are doing just ONE thing wrong. Find out this SHOCKING secret!"
    "Learn how THESE business didn't follow this ONE simple trick"