If the specific information is really that important to you then it’s freely available to you at the click of the search button after you type the search term into your favourite search engine (likely Google), but otherwise there is indeed a list of tech start-ups which were funded big time, but went on to fail dismally. I’m sure you know all about the 1-out-of-10 venture capital success rate doctrine so I won’t get into that either.
Otherwise today’s discussion is all about failed tech start-up ventures and more specifically what we can learn from them. There is perhaps more to learn out of a failed venture than one which went on to realise a resounding success.
Natural Size
Quite a lot of the tech start-ups which were funded rather generously aimed a bit too high by way of the numbers they thought they’d go on to reach, whereas what they probably should have done was gauge their natural size. Something like RSS is perhaps a great example of this in that there were only a moderate number of people who saw its value and there was very little anybody could have done to convince more people of its intended value.
Timing Matters
Do you think something like Facebook would have blown up to the size it exists in today had it come into existence in 1998? It most definitely wouldn’t have, testimony to which are the likes of MySpace, Friendster and other social networking platforms which came into being a little too prematurely, highlighting just how important timing is.
The True Essence of Technology Prevails
This is perhaps the most important lesson we can learn from technology that died out, that being how it’s ultimately all about what the technology can do. It’s all about meeting a certain demand or solving a certain problem, but that doesn’t mean that tech solutions which are more of a frivolous nature are doomed to failure. Whoever invented fidget spinners for example would probably deem their invention a success, based purely on the economic side of things – they would have naturally made a lot of money.
For Consideration in Your Next Tech Venture
So in conclusion, whether you’re getting into your next tech venture as an investor or if you’re perhaps the one who possesses the technical skills to make it happen, keep in mind that there’s a natural market-size which can perhaps be modelled with a great degree of accuracy, this as just one of three discussed lessons to take away from failed technologies. The other two of course are those of how timing matters, and that at the end of the day it’s all about solving a problem – filling a gap for which there is a tangible need. If for example your aim is to play powerball online, as a consumer all you’ll want is to be able to do so in the quickest and easiest way which costs you the least amount of money.
All the fancy bells and whistles only go so far in making a specific technology worth anything…
