There are 99 reasons why startups fail and 99dresses found 99 ways to overcome their obstacles but it was still not enough
This is a story of perseverance beyond almost logical reasoning but not the happy ending you’d expect. Because this is not a Walt Disney world, it’s the real world.
And Nikki Durkin, an 18-year old all the way from Australia learned this the hard way when her startup baby – 99dresses – failed after 4 years of giving it her all, including her education.
Case Study: Hollar could have been the next TEMU or SHEIN but missed the boat
When Temu launched (for the second time) in September 2022 at the Superbowl in the USA, two ad slots with the simple message ‘Shop like a billionaire’ cost them roughly $14 million. They recorded a revenue of $18.93 billion for the same year and reached over 19 million downloads of the app.
What is their business model?
Case Study: The rise and fall of A.I robotics a few years ago … and the relevance of TIMING
Entrepreneurs often have a great idea and then (hopefully) go and find out if there is a problem that needs solving by their great idea.
That is still backward.
The focus should be on the problem first and then finding a solution for that specific need.
Case Study: How poor leadership created AND broke Laurel & Wolf
Lauren & Wolf, once a promising startup, serves as a great example of the challenges and pitfalls that can lead to a company’s downfall. At some point, I actually started feeling really bad for the then-CEO, Leura Fine and you will see why in a moment.
The [state] of healthcare innovation in South Africa and the obstacles you might not be aware of
Healthcare innovation is an excellent example of an oxymoron.
And it is not just in South Africa. I know – if I say healthcare in South Africa, your first thought is probably “NHI” and “here we go again with another rant about the NHI”.
But that is for another day – yes, all of us healthcare professionals are watching things unfold with raising concerns but that is not the focus of the case study today.
Case Study: Are anonymous messaging apps the way of the future or should we learn from Yik Yak?
I picked a startup called Yik Yak because the name sounded cool.
Now imagine a social media app where you can post anonymously and people within close proximity can read your messages. Now imagine this on a university campus or high school.
The Truth about Pitch Competitions
As we are wrapping up another month it is time for the monthly newsletter where I share my learnings, journey, and insights of the startup world.
As I recently attended a pitch competition, it was just the perfect topic to broach and I wanted to take a different angle than purely how you should prepare for a pitch competition.
Case Study: A tutoring marketplace sounded like a dream, but one that Tutorspree couldn’t sustain
I am pretty sure at some point all of us had a tutor in high school, in varsity, or at work. Although we call them mentors at work, they sometimes fulfill the function of a tutor.
Case Study: Growing at all costs is simply not worth it and Shyp [did not] survive to tell the tale
Please excuse me while my Afrikaans brain read this name the first time sounding like ‘shape’ … I’ll swiftly move on from this hoping I’m not the only one!
So join me as I continue digging in the startup cemetery on a Sunday eve. It’s a short one today.
Case Study: A platform for inventors to pitch their ideas and see their vision come to life sounds fantastic – or does it?
The case study today is quite an interesting one. Imagine I tell you to think about combining Kickstarter and Takealot, what comes to mind?
So Quirky was something between the two. It was launched in 2009 as a crowdsourcing company that focused on making invention possible for entrepreneurs through means of crowdsourcing and manufacturing.