4 ms·

I think buying swag from startups to sell after they fail would be a better business model than the moviepass model. This was a classic case of, “we lose money

by parsimo2010 7y ago

I think buying swag from startups to sell after they fail would be a better business model than the moviepass model. This was a classic case of, “we lose money on every sale, so we’re dropping prices to make up for it in volume.” EVERYONE knew this was a bad idea, but enough B.S. thrown into a slide deck convinced enough investors that this was a smart gamble and not a clearly dumb one. Maybe the insiders knew something that everyone else didn’t, or maybe they were pitching a quick exit, or possibly just lying to their investors. Maybe in a parallel universe they pulled it off. But I’m still thinking how cool it would be to have a collection on vintage/retro T-shirts from failed startups. You could even have a subscription plan if it got big enough, or you could buy “options” from startups to buy their remaining swag for a discount if they ever went under.

dreamcompiler 7y ago
> I think buying swag from startups to sell after they fail would be a better business model than the moviepass model. I wish somebody would start fuckedcompany.com v2.0. I used to hit that site every day. Good times.
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]
- filmgirlcw 7y ago
  I bought theranos.online last year for basically this purpose. It sits unused but I want to either have a fuckedcompany 2.0 type of thing or just sell assorted fucked company adjacent shirts.
- _jal 7y ago
  I still occasionally wear my fuckedcompany.com T-shirt. It is in the "laundry shirt" stage, headed towards the "you must like that shirt a lot" stage. Facial reactions to it tell me who was there at the time.
  - Scoundreller 7y ago
    And the SFW "luckedcompany.com" with the same backend but different theme.
- avip 7y ago
  There’s http://startupgraveyard.io/ http://startupgraveyard.io/
FreakyT 7y ago
> I think buying swag from startups to sell after they fail would be a better business model than the moviepass model. If this is your thing, and you happen to find yourself near the Bay Area, I highly recommend stopping by local thrift stores. So many failed startup shirts!
- DaiPlusPlus 7y ago
  The thrift stores in Redmond are kinda similar - except it’s all internal Microsoft merch for failed internal projects - or just really weird things like a family photo frame with the SQL Server 2000 logo molded into it.
  - s_kilk 7y ago
    > a family photo frame with the SQL Server 2000 logo molded into it. I just... how could this be real?
    - hellcow 7y ago
      "SQL Server 2000, save the things that matter"
    - DaiPlusPlus 7y ago
      It was just was. It took me by surprise when I saw it too. I probably should have bought it just for the reaction from my houseguests - the question is: what person’s photo should I have put inside of it?
- paulie_a 7y ago
  Do you have any recommendations on shops? I'll be in the Bay on Tuesday and would love to pick up a couple of shirts
  - borski 7y ago
    Any of the Goodwill stores in the South Bay.
pjc50 7y ago
I still have my NTK tshirt from 2001 which joked about this: https://web.archive.org/web/20030606070350/http://www.geekstyle.co.uk/images/80million.jpg https://web.archive.org/web/20030606070350/http://www.geekst... "I got £80million in venture capital for my .com idea and all I have left is this lousy t-shirt" (Visiting the shop through wayback is quite a trip; see the bottom where they have to carefully explain this newfangled "Paypal" thing https://web.archive.org/web/20030812152554/http://www.geekstyle.co.uk/ntkmart.cgi https://web.archive.org/web/20030812152554/http://www.geekst... )
rubicon33 7y ago
I worked for a startup that also did this, and also went out of business a couple years ago. I'm curious - is "selling for less than it costs to make" a legit business strategy?
- parsimo2010 7y ago
  Uber has been doing it for years. The actual plan has a key second step: 1. Sell at discounted prices to grow quickly, capture market share and public image 2. Raise prices to profitability once you have an advantageous position in the market and consumers either love your brand or they have no options to switch to once your prices go up. Alternately for startups, you can sell the business once you have an established position and let someone else worry about profitability, or sell to another big company that wants to kill their competition. The key in the plan is step 2. However, for MoviePass, there was no way they were going to get to step 2. There was every reason for the theaters to compete with MoviePass instead of making deals with them. Most people only visit one brand of theater (whichever meets the cleanliness/price ratio near their house), and each chain could make their own subscription plan cheaper without cutting a deal with MoviePass. So MoviePass was never going to get to step 2 where they had an advantageous market position, because their one key feature- being able to be used at multiple chains- wasn't compelling. So they cut their subscription to $10/month, which consumers loved, but everyone knew that it wouldn't fix the problem with the business model, and they were basically just giving free movie tickets to consumers with investors money.
  - petjuh 7y ago
    They also took the money before having to reimburse the tickets, so it acted as taking in a short term loan.

dreamcompiler 7y ago

> I think buying swag from startups to sell after they fail would be a better business model than the moviepass model. I wish somebody would start fuckedcompany.com v2.0. I used to hit that site every day. Good times.

deleted 7y ago
[deleted]
filmgirlcw 7y ago
I bought theranos.online last year for basically this purpose. It sits unused but I want to either have a fuckedcompany 2.0 type of thing or just sell assorted fucked company adjacent shirts.
_jal 7y ago
I still occasionally wear my fuckedcompany.com T-shirt. It is in the "laundry shirt" stage, headed towards the "you must like that shirt a lot" stage. Facial reactions to it tell me who was there at the time.
- Scoundreller 7y ago
  And the SFW "luckedcompany.com" with the same backend but different theme.
avip 7y ago
There’s http://startupgraveyard.io/ http://startupgraveyard.io/

FreakyT 7y ago

> I think buying swag from startups to sell after they fail would be a better business model than the moviepass model. If this is your thing, and you happen to find yourself near the Bay Area, I highly recommend stopping by local thrift stores. So many failed startup shirts!

DaiPlusPlus 7y ago
The thrift stores in Redmond are kinda similar - except it’s all internal Microsoft merch for failed internal projects - or just really weird things like a family photo frame with the SQL Server 2000 logo molded into it.
- s_kilk 7y ago
  > a family photo frame with the SQL Server 2000 logo molded into it. I just... how could this be real?
  - hellcow 7y ago
    "SQL Server 2000, save the things that matter"
  - DaiPlusPlus 7y ago
    It was just was. It took me by surprise when I saw it too. I probably should have bought it just for the reaction from my houseguests - the question is: what person’s photo should I have put inside of it?
paulie_a 7y ago
Do you have any recommendations on shops? I'll be in the Bay on Tuesday and would love to pick up a couple of shirts
- borski 7y ago
  Any of the Goodwill stores in the South Bay.

pjc50 7y ago

I still have my NTK tshirt from 2001 which joked about this: https://web.archive.org/web/20030606070350/http://www.geekstyle.co.uk/images/80million.jpg https://web.archive.org/web/20030606070350/http://www.geekst... "I got £80million in venture capital for my .com idea and all I have left is this lousy t-shirt" (Visiting the shop through wayback is quite a trip; see the bottom where they have to carefully explain this newfangled "Paypal" thing https://web.archive.org/web/20030812152554/http://www.geekstyle.co.uk/ntkmart.cgi https://web.archive.org/web/20030812152554/http://www.geekst... )

rubicon33 7y ago

I worked for a startup that also did this, and also went out of business a couple years ago. I'm curious - is "selling for less than it costs to make" a legit business strategy?

parsimo2010 7y ago
Uber has been doing it for years. The actual plan has a key second step: 1. Sell at discounted prices to grow quickly, capture market share and public image 2. Raise prices to profitability once you have an advantageous position in the market and consumers either love your brand or they have no options to switch to once your prices go up. Alternately for startups, you can sell the business once you have an established position and let someone else worry about profitability, or sell to another big company that wants to kill their competition. The key in the plan is step 2. However, for MoviePass, there was no way they were going to get to step 2. There was every reason for the theaters to compete with MoviePass instead of making deals with them. Most people only visit one brand of theater (whichever meets the cleanliness/price ratio near their house), and each chain could make their own subscription plan cheaper without cutting a deal with MoviePass. So MoviePass was never going to get to step 2 where they had an advantageous market position, because their one key feature- being able to be used at multiple chains- wasn't compelling. So they cut their subscription to $10/month, which consumers loved, but everyone knew that it wouldn't fix the problem with the business model, and they were basically just giving free movie tickets to consumers with investors money.
- petjuh 7y ago
  They also took the money before having to reimburse the tickets, so it acted as taking in a short term loan.