Case studies of spectacular product failure
While contemplating ethical implications may prevent potential crises, examining instructive cases of failure equally provides sobering lessons. Even hugely resourced teams and well-known brands can completely misread user needs and market realities. By analyzing where other products went wrong, growth product managers gain wisdom into warning signs that may undermine their launches. Let’s explore illustrative examples of spectacular failure.
Quibi – misjudging the market
Just as ethical blind spots carry consequences, so does misunderstanding target users and their changing behaviors. The streaming service Quibi failed precisely due to this market misjudgment.
Quibi shows what happens when assumptions about user needs prove fatally flawed. Their core premise was that consumers craved premium short-form video content viewable in spare minutes. However, the realities of when and how people consume content did not fit Quibi’s model. Viewers simply did not flock as expected to 5-10-minute clips on yet another service. Quibi’s spectacular collapse despite star-studded shows and $1.75 billion funding should give any growth product manager pause on whether they fully grasp evolving user preferences.
Juicero – overengineering without purpose
While Quibi misread macro consumer trends, Juicero failed by overengineering a solution lacking true purpose.
Juicero demonstrated what happens when innovation becomes completely detached from meaningful utility. Their internet-connected juice press was utterly overdesigned, equipped with QR code scanning, proprietary juice packs, and the crushing force of two Tesla sedans! Yet its actual purpose—making juice—didn’t require such complexity. When users realized hands did the same trick, Juicero was doomed. The lesson for growth product managers is that feature creep driven by what tech allows rather than user needs leads products astray.
Theranos – the perils of deception
Sticking to ethics provides the ultimate failsafe against disasters such as Theranos, where deception brought down a $9 billion company.
No saga better illustrates the need for unrelenting integrity than Theranos’s. They captivated audiences by claiming revolutionary blood testing technology only needed finger pinpricks rather than vials of blood. However, their breakthrough analyzer simply did not work reliably. But rather than coming clean, Theranos crafted elaborate ruses to demonstrate fake precision, duping investors, and patients alike. Growth product managers must consider Theranos a clarion call for honesty, no matter how alluring the prospects of exaggeration seem.
Spectacular failures offer sobering lessons for growth product managers hoping to avoid similar catastrophes. Quibi, Juicero, and Theranos collectively warn against losing touch with users, prizing tech over purpose, and compromising ethics. By studying their demises, product teams gain wisdom to navigate inevitable storms ahead.
