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“This is a sad time for Beepi and everyone involved. We set out on an ambitious mission to build a massive company and radically transform a decades-old industr

“This is a sad time for Beepi and everyone involved. We set out on an ambitious mission to build a massive company and radically transform a decades-old industry, and stopped well short of the goal line. We take full responsibility for that." -Former Beepi CEO You can't help but feel bad for these guys. You know they must have poured their heart and soul into these companies. I guess that's corporate Darwinism for you though.

mysterydip 9y ago
At the same time, there's people that pour their heart and soul into mom n pop companies with nowhere near the visibility or valuation of these kinds. So while it sucks, I don't feel especially bad for someone who got their shot at the stars and missed.
ScottBurson 9y ago
Yeah, my wife and I bought a car from Beepi and it was a great experience. If anything, I thought it was a little underpriced -- given everything they did for us, we probably would have paid another $400. I don't really know why it didn't succeed. ETA: well, here's a post-mortem (about halfway down): https://techcrunch.com/2017/05/25/anatomy-of-a-managed-marketplace/ https://techcrunch.com/2017/05/25/anatomy-of-a-managed-marke...
- brogrammernot 9y ago
  They had an inherently flawed model in an industry that has a high barrier to entry and requires significant cash resources. Just take a look at Carvana's most recent earnings, they lost something like 40M in the first quarter on revenue of $160M. They're still spending a ton of money to compete. Beepi had a flawed model, and ran out of money. I find it hard to be sad for them as this is what is supposed to happen when you don't have a sustainable business model.
  - defined 9y ago
    I am sad for all the people who lost their jobs as a result of these failures, though.
    - brogrammernot 9y ago
      That's fair. I've been through 2 "failed" startups, one somewhat success and one that looks promising but you come out the other side of these things alright. They learned a super valuable lesson about market for, and it will help them all in the future having this experience.

mysterydip 9y ago

At the same time, there's people that pour their heart and soul into mom n pop companies with nowhere near the visibility or valuation of these kinds. So while it sucks, I don't feel especially bad for someone who got their shot at the stars and missed.

ScottBurson 9y ago

Yeah, my wife and I bought a car from Beepi and it was a great experience. If anything, I thought it was a little underpriced -- given everything they did for us, we probably would have paid another $400. I don't really know why it didn't succeed. ETA: well, here's a post-mortem (about halfway down): https://techcrunch.com/2017/05/25/anatomy-of-a-managed-marketplace/ https://techcrunch.com/2017/05/25/anatomy-of-a-managed-marke...

brogrammernot 9y ago
They had an inherently flawed model in an industry that has a high barrier to entry and requires significant cash resources. Just take a look at Carvana's most recent earnings, they lost something like 40M in the first quarter on revenue of $160M. They're still spending a ton of money to compete. Beepi had a flawed model, and ran out of money. I find it hard to be sad for them as this is what is supposed to happen when you don't have a sustainable business model.
- defined 9y ago
  I am sad for all the people who lost their jobs as a result of these failures, though.
  - brogrammernot 9y ago
    That's fair. I've been through 2 "failed" startups, one somewhat success and one that looks promising but you come out the other side of these things alright. They learned a super valuable lesson about market for, and it will help them all in the future having this experience.