Pets.com
Because pets can't drive
Valuation at Death
$300 million
Money Burned
$300 million
Body Count
320 employees
Lifespan
730 days (2 years)
☠️ Official Cause of Death
Sock puppet couldn't save them
Spent $11.8M on Super Bowl ads. Revenue: $619k that quarter
Epitaph
The puppet was famous
The unit economics were not
First casualty of the dot-com bust
Famous Last Words
"If you build it, they will come (they didn't)"
"Super Bowl ads = instant success, right?"
💡 The Lesson
Marketing < Product-market fit
I Was There Too
Raise your hand. Be honest. We all fuck up.
No one has confessed yet. Be the first to raise your hand.
Were you part of this? Did you use it? Raise your hand:
Enjoyed Reading About Pets.com's Death?
Cool. Now be a human and admit a time you've fucked up.
You just read about someone else's failure. Maybe it's time to share yours? You might leave here with a friend who made the exact same mistake.
Fine, I'll Share My Failure