What made your startup fail?

Had a digital media business but there was too much competition. Couldn't stand out or find a USP. Realized I'd need a lot of funding to really get anywhere with it. Gave up in the end as wasn't profitable enough.

basically lack of focus and being late to introduce monetisation

I had an excellent idea for a two-sided marketplace that was well timed. I even had an MVP, although it had severe bugs in the integration with my customers’ systems.

I had to financially support my family of four, so I was unable to work full-time on it. Soon, a cashed-up competitor entered the market and became a monopoly overnight. I couldn’t compete, so I fell on my sword.

Since then, I’ve been looking for something I can build quickly while working full-time, doesn’t need to be a monopoly (which rules out many two-sided marketplaces), and doesn’t require funding (I live in a technological backwater). It’ll likely be a better version of something that already exists, e.g. agile project management system.

Not validating was one of the worst things I did too 🥲

But the biggest problem, one of the startups I put the most effort into was thinking I had to do something huge. It was basically similar to what Patreon is, but with less fees and a slick UI. But yeah, as you can imagine this was quite bothersome with all the rules of payment processors and tax law..

Sorry to hear that, man! I haven't had a startup fail because I haven't had a startup yet. I've had lots of side projects though and many of them have failed. Some because I got bored and moved on, some because I didn't see the results I wanted or couldn't see how to scale/grow it. I'm doing a podcast at the moment and I'm loving it, it's been the one thing I've stuck at. I think because I'm always motivated by the different guests. All my other projects have been solo ventures and I think I just work better with others.

Thank you for sharing your experience with your book subscription service startup. It takes a lot of courage to start a business and even more to talk about its failure. However, it's great that you were able to identify the reason behind its failure, which is a crucial step towards future success. It's important to remember that failure is an inevitable part of entrepreneurship, and it's what you learn from those failures that will make your next venture more successful

From my experience:

• Rushing to conclusions: One of the biggest mistakes some startups make is rushing to conclusions and assuming that they have to validate their proof of concept quickly. It's important to take the time to test and validate the product or service before drawing conclusions. Rushing into conclusions can lead to abandoning a promising product or service, which can ultimately result in the failure of the startup.
• Not being able to pivot and adapt: Another challenge that some startups face is not being able to pivot and adapt when necessary. The market is constantly changing, and startups need to be able to adjust their product or service based on feedback and market conditions. Startups that are not able to pivot and adapt are at a disadvantage and may not be able to keep up with their competitors.
• Investing too much money upfront: Startups need to be careful about investing too much money upfront and expecting quick returns. It's important to invest in the business, but it's also important to be patient and realistic about the time it takes to see returns on investments. One way to avoid investing too much upfront is to build a reputation in communities or events, attend conferences or events, and learn marketing skills yourself.

A long time ago I started a car decal business with a cute bunny dressed up in people's professions and hobbies.
Id researched the 'my family' sticker business before hand and saw it's success and the fact that decals can have high profit margins.
The whole business got side tracked by another opportunity which also failed then lost interest in the business. Unfortunately I'm now left with a huge amount of inventory. Good lessons learnt along the way though.

I will dedicate my failure to my Really Bad Marketing skills!

My business partner and I started an acting studio on LA. He was the teacher, Juilliard trained, and I was the business operator. It was safe to say we had the knowledge and pedigree to creat, build and scale an attractive program.

We failed.

We failed because we gave classes for free for the first 6 months of opening. When we switched to pay, 90% of our student body evaporated. We even kept the pay half of what an "average" class elsewhere would cost, so we could soften the impact, and increase class prices from there. It didn't work.

I wouldn't say our product was the best - we had kinks to figure out. But to lose 90% of the student-body, ngl, hurt our pride a little.

We would have kept going, I was already 10k in debt, but work relocated me to NYC and we had to close up shop.

Starting up the acting business was some of the most rewarding work I'd ever done.

I made a project that allows you to create an online game in a few seconds (https://qwakly.com/).

It failed because of stupid people who do not need such a magical thing.

I understand a book subscription business (ala book of the month), but I don't quite understand it when members are selecting different books.

Here's one personal business failure in as few words as possible. Ad agency, 40 FTE, $7m year gross rev, 9/11, economy came to a halt, biz collapsed, $1m debt, lost a home

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