Here’s a list of 8 failed startups from Los Angeles.
Some of them were big, with huge teams and funding rounds.
Others were smaller, ran by the co-founders, and with no funding.
But all of them shut down.
And each for a specific cause of failure.
8 Failed Startups Founded in Los Angeles
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2,658 Accelerators & Incubators
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1,016 Unicorns
Information about their valuation, HQ's location, founded year, name of founders, funding amount and number of employees.
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1,016 Unicorns
Information about their valuation, HQ's location, founded year, name of founders, funding amount and number of employees.
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Design Inc.
Design Inc. linked clients to talented designers. They reached market saturation and the startup could not make enough revenue to cover operation costs.
Details of the startup:
Founders:
Bjoern Zinssmeister, Marc Hemeon
Country:
United States
Industry:
Design
Started in:
2016
Closed in:
2017
Nº of employees:
1-10
Funding Amount:
$1M-$10M
Specific cause of failure:
Bad Business Model
Design Inc.
You can read more about their failure here.
Fuhu
Fuhu was a seller of cloud-served software. After reaching Top 1 on Inc 500, the company amassed an enormous amount of debt and had a very high burn rate.
Details of the startup:
Founders:
John Hui, Robb Fujioka, Steve Hui
Country:
United States
Industry:
Software & Hardware
Started in:
2006
Closed in:
2015
Nº of employees:
500-1,000
Funding Amount:
> $50M
Specific cause of failure:
Mismanagement of Funds
Fuhu
You can read more about their failure here.
Laurel & Wolf
Laurel & Wolf was a marketplace for interior design solutions. They shut down due to large spendings on marketing and a bad reputation among customers.
Details of the startup:
Founders:
Brandon Kleinman, Leura Fine
Country:
United States
Industry:
e-Commerce
Started in:
2014
Closed in:
Active
Nº of employees:
50-100
Funding Amount:
$10M-$50M
Specific cause of failure:
Multiple Reasons
Laurel & Wolf
You can read more about their failure here.
MySpace
MySpace became the most popular social networking site before Facebook. After competing with them, they decided to repurpose it as a platform for artists.
Details of the startup:
Founders:
Aber Whitcomb, Brad Greenspan, Chris DeWolfe, Colin Digiaro, Josh Berman, Michael Addicott, Tom Anderson
Country:
United States
Industry:
Social Media
Started in:
2003
Closed in:
Active
Nº of employees:
250-500
Funding Amount:
$10M-$50M
Specific cause of failure:
Multiple Reasons
MySpace
You can read more about their failure here.
Quibi
An analysis on why did Quibi, a short-form video streaming platform, shut down despite raising $2 billion from investors and having an experienced team.
Details of the startup:
Founders:
Jeffrey Katzenberg
Country:
United States
Industry:
Entertainment
Started in:
2018
Closed in:
2020
Nº of employees:
250-500
Funding Amount:
> $50M
Specific cause of failure:
Multiple Reasons
Quibi
You can read more about their failure here.
ToyGaroo
Toygaroo was the Netflix of toys. Funded by a great group of people based in Los Angeles, the company appeared on Shark Tank asking $100k for a 10% stake. They ended up raising $250K in 2 funding rounds, but after some months, they had to shut down the company. Inventory and logistical costs were too high, so capital rapidly disappeared.
Details of the startup:
Founder:
Phil Smy
Country:
United States
Industry:
e-Commerce
Started in:
2010
Closed in:
2012
Funding Amount:
$100K-$500K
Specific cause of failure:
Bad Business Model
ToyGaroo
You can read more about their failure here.
Vacation Bird
Gene founded VacationBird, a marketplace for finding your vacation rental. It was an early version of Airbnb and a VRBO competitor. Having a misalignment of incentives between co-founders and poor planning were the main causes to shut it down in 2012.
Details of the startup:
Founder:
Gene Maryushenko
Country:
United States
Industry:
Travel
Started in:
2011
Closed in:
2012
Funding Amount:
$0
Specific cause of failure:
Lack of Experience
Vacation Bird
You can read more about their failure here.
Zapstream
Zapstream was a social live streaming platform, which competed with Meerkat and Periscope. The startup raised $1m from angels and grew from 0 to 100k users. However, a combination of dwindling engagement, mismanagement of money, and the inability to fundraise further, led to their shut down.
Details of the startup:
Founder:
Devan Sood
Country:
United States
Industry:
Social Media
Started in:
2015
Closed in:
2016
Funding Amount:
$1M-$5M
Specific cause of failure:
Mismanagement of Funds
Zapstream
You can read more about their failure here.
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