Once-flush start-ups struggle to stay alive as investors get picky
Found on Blog of Intellectual Capital on Sunday, 30 April 2017
Beepi doesn’t exist anymore. After burning through more than $US120 million ($158m) in capital, the start-up failed to raise more cash and shut down in February. Its roughly 270 employees cleared out of the cavernous Mountain View, California, headquarters leaving behind the ping-pong table and putting green.
In 2014 and 2015, mutual funds, hedge funds and others pumped billions into companies that they now see as overvalued, and unlikely to pull off an initial public offering.
Founded in 2013, Beepi caught on in San Francisco by giving people a fail-safe way to sell used cars online. Beepi guaranteed sellers a price, and if it couldn’t find a buyer in 30 days, it purchased the car.
How can one even put a single dollar into an idea like that? Also, don't need 270 people for that; but guessing from the ping-pong table and green work was not too much of a priority. All that aside, it's surprising (and depressing) to see that investors still believe in the dotcom bubble that exploded so long ago and burn their money.