A compilation of startup failure post-mortems by founders and investors.
In the spirit of failure, we dug into the data on startup death and found that 70% of upstart tech companies fail — usually around 20 months after first raising financing (with around $1.3M in total funding closed).
So why do so many startups flame out? The real reasons can be hard to uncover, but the obituaries written by founders, investors, and journalists offer plenty of clues.
Below is a time-staggered compilation of startup post-mortems for some of the most notable failures in the CB Insights database.
Startup Failure Post-Mortems 2021 First Update (2/3/21)
Despite the Covid-19 pandemic, global VC funding grew 15% year-over-year in 2020 to over $259B. Meanwhile, 2020 saw the number of unicorns (private companies worth $1B+) surpass 500 as well as notable exits by companies like Snowflake, DoorDash, and Airbnb.
Not all startups, however, were able to weather 2020’s ups and downs.
Several of the companies in this update stated they shut down because they were unable to raise funding (GoBear) or find a viable revenue model (Loon). Some were hit especially hard by pandemic shutdowns and changing consumer behaviors (Brideside). Others, meanwhile, allegedly mismanaged their spending (AWOK) or faced problems unrelated to the pandemic (TenX) that led to their failure.
Read on for 15 post-mortems of startups that have shut down since August 2020.
read more (cb insights) / Analysis PDF Attached
In the spirit of failure, we dug into the data on startup death and found that 70% of upstart tech companies fail — usually around 20 months after first raising financing (with around $1.3M in total funding closed).
So why do so many startups flame out? The real reasons can be hard to uncover, but the obituaries written by founders, investors, and journalists offer plenty of clues.
Below is a time-staggered compilation of startup post-mortems for some of the most notable failures in the CB Insights database.
Startup Failure Post-Mortems 2021 First Update (2/3/21)
Despite the Covid-19 pandemic, global VC funding grew 15% year-over-year in 2020 to over $259B. Meanwhile, 2020 saw the number of unicorns (private companies worth $1B+) surpass 500 as well as notable exits by companies like Snowflake, DoorDash, and Airbnb.
Not all startups, however, were able to weather 2020’s ups and downs.
Several of the companies in this update stated they shut down because they were unable to raise funding (GoBear) or find a viable revenue model (Loon). Some were hit especially hard by pandemic shutdowns and changing consumer behaviors (Brideside). Others, meanwhile, allegedly mismanaged their spending (AWOK) or faced problems unrelated to the pandemic (TenX) that led to their failure.
Read on for 15 post-mortems of startups that have shut down since August 2020.
read more (cb insights) / Analysis PDF Attached
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