Failed early internet businesses seem awfully familiar.
> I basically think all the ideas of the 90s that everybody had about how this stuff was going to work, I think they were all right, they were all correct. I think they were just early — @pmarca
Thread 👇
> I basically think all the ideas of the 90s that everybody had about how this stuff was going to work, I think they were all right, they were all correct. I think they were just early — @pmarca
Thread 👇
2004 attempt to build Tinder. Short phone calls instead of texting on a mobile app.
Kozmo (1998 - 2001) – wide-ranging local delivery in under an hour. Seems a lot like Postmates today, minus the mobile app
Webvan (1996 - 2001) – One of the most notorious dotcom flops. Instacart's last private valuation was $4.2B. Differences? Instacart outsources grocery inventory to stores and delivery vehicles + logistics to Instacart shoppers.
TextPayMe (2006) – Payments between friends via mobile phones. Sounds like Venmo!
This article even frames TextPayMe as "the logical second act for PayPal." Venmo was. Now PayPal owns them :)
This article even frames TextPayMe as "the logical second act for PayPal." Venmo was. Now PayPal owns them :)
Pets.com (1998 - 2000) – bad idea, too early, or just prematurely bankrupted by the bubble bursting? PetSmart acquired Chewy.com for $3.35B in 2017!
People mocked later attempts to sell pet supplies online, but the Pets.com CEO understood it was viable businessinsider.com/petscom-ceo-ju…
People mocked later attempts to sell pet supplies online, but the Pets.com CEO understood it was viable businessinsider.com/petscom-ceo-ju…
There were lots of attempts to build digital currencies before Bitcoin: DigiCash ('89), Beenz (98), Flooz (99), e-gold (98), 1mdc (01), e-Bullion (01). Some even tried to anonymously create underground (Tor only) currencies like eCache (2007).
