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What's interesting about Quibi is that it somehow broke the mold as being a really bad idea that somehow got a lot of funding. It's hard to get funding and inve

What's interesting about Quibi is that it somehow broke the mold as being a really bad idea that somehow got a lot of funding. It's hard to get funding and investors aren't usually stupid. You'll have people that'll make you jump through hoops and do their due diligence. But then once in a while, there'll be something that'll just be a mind boggling disaster that somehow breaks through against all norms. Stuff like Theranos or Nikola. Sidenote: There are so many important OSS projects that basically get little to no funding while things like Quibi burn millions if not billions in the dumbest way possible.

akiselev 6y ago
> investors aren't usually stupid Citation needed. Every portfolio I've looked at outside of the top firms has had multiple investments (approved by partners) that to my mind look mind bogglingly dumb. Not Theranos level of dumb, where they'd have to have a little knowledge of blood based diagnostics and the statistical significance of results from finger pricks to know its a fraud, but "we didn't do due diligence and found out that this is a perpetual motion machine/founder doesn't own critical IP/financials don't make sense in any universe" levels of dumb. The former slip through the cracks at even the best firms, but the latter is like watching a slow motion train wreck. With the benefit of hindsight, the entire industry looks like thousands of monkeys with typewriters (especially when biotech gets frothy).
mytailorisrich 6y ago
It was founded by Jeff Katzenberg, not you or I. They guy probably has the personal number of all the CEOs in the business and they pick up the phone and listen if he calls. Then, with the success of Youtube, Tiktok, Instagram pitching a premium short videos app does not sound crazy especially, again, when it's Katzenberg pitching it to you (and he must have invested a good chunk of his own cash). Then he managed to hire Meg Whitman as CEO and first employee. So now it's Whitman and Katzenberg pitching that idea to you.
- TigeriusKirk 6y ago
  They'll probably still pick up the phone and listen if he calls.
  - jldugger 6y ago
    In 2020 we pick up the phone and just be amazed it wasn't a robocaller.
scsilver 6y ago
Investors aren't stupid, they just have to much money not to be a bit lazy about it and they will follow other money, institutions, investors as a shortcut for not being their own analyst. There's alot of money out there, you gotta out it somewhere not in dollars. It makes it easy to blindly follow those previously anointed as geniuses off a cliff.
jtsiskin 6y ago
FOMO. It’s all FOMO. It seems seems like some combination of Netflix, YouTube, Snapchat stories, and TikTok that you could throw on a pitch deck and promise investors will be the next version of TV for millennials. Starting with 100% original programming makes no sense to me. You have 2 billion dollars, license some mega hits to at least bring people in. I downloaded the app and saw exactly what I was expecting - “Create account” or “Sign in”, no way to play anything or see any previews. People aren’t going to try so hard to seek out these shows they haven’t seen or heard of before.

akiselev 6y ago

> investors aren't usually stupid Citation needed. Every portfolio I've looked at outside of the top firms has had multiple investments (approved by partners) that to my mind look mind bogglingly dumb. Not Theranos level of dumb, where they'd have to have a little knowledge of blood based diagnostics and the statistical significance of results from finger pricks to know its a fraud, but "we didn't do due diligence and found out that this is a perpetual motion machine/founder doesn't own critical IP/financials don't make sense in any universe" levels of dumb. The former slip through the cracks at even the best firms, but the latter is like watching a slow motion train wreck. With the benefit of hindsight, the entire industry looks like thousands of monkeys with typewriters (especially when biotech gets frothy).

mytailorisrich 6y ago

It was founded by Jeff Katzenberg, not you or I. They guy probably has the personal number of all the CEOs in the business and they pick up the phone and listen if he calls. Then, with the success of Youtube, Tiktok, Instagram pitching a premium short videos app does not sound crazy especially, again, when it's Katzenberg pitching it to you (and he must have invested a good chunk of his own cash). Then he managed to hire Meg Whitman as CEO and first employee. So now it's Whitman and Katzenberg pitching that idea to you.

TigeriusKirk 6y ago
They'll probably still pick up the phone and listen if he calls.
- jldugger 6y ago
  In 2020 we pick up the phone and just be amazed it wasn't a robocaller.

scsilver 6y ago

Investors aren't stupid, they just have to much money not to be a bit lazy about it and they will follow other money, institutions, investors as a shortcut for not being their own analyst. There's alot of money out there, you gotta out it somewhere not in dollars. It makes it easy to blindly follow those previously anointed as geniuses off a cliff.

jtsiskin 6y ago

FOMO. It’s all FOMO. It seems seems like some combination of Netflix, YouTube, Snapchat stories, and TikTok that you could throw on a pitch deck and promise investors will be the next version of TV for millennials. Starting with 100% original programming makes no sense to me. You have 2 billion dollars, license some mega hits to at least bring people in. I downloaded the app and saw exactly what I was expecting - “Create account” or “Sign in”, no way to play anything or see any previews. People aren’t going to try so hard to seek out these shows they haven’t seen or heard of before.