While we see many startups doing exciting things, one should not forget the world of entrepreneurship is riddled with more failures than successes. Hundreds of startups go bust without even making a mark every month while some go on to make a mark and go into oblivion once the consumer no longer needs their business model or products. However, Quibi, short for quick bites, definitely takes the cake for going big with a billion dollar launch and shutting down, all of which took place in a span of six months. So how did a billion dollar startup founded by some big names and partners with some of the biggest names in the world end up going bust? Read ahead to find out the interesting story of Quibi.
Beginnings:
Quibi was founded by Dreamworks Animation co founder Jeffery Katzenberg and former Hewlett Packard Chief Executive Officer Meg Whitman, both of whom have deep roots in the technology and Hollywood industries as well as having a wealth of experience running billion dollar corporations. Quibi was launched on April 6th 2020, as a content provider which is delivered in ten minute episodes called Quick Bites on mobile phones. Quibi’s target group was mainly a younger demographic. It is important to remember the fact that the founders decided to launch Quibi in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic and when the American public were locked in their homes. The founders did not anticipate this act of god to severely derail their entire plans.
Problems:
While the founders decided to go ahead with Quibi, one of the major problems was the content could only be streamed on mobile devices as the resolution was curated for a mobile viewing experience. The subscribers began complaining about not being able to watch the content on the big screen in their homes. It also launched without simple, easy ways to share or meme its shows on social media thereby decreasing the chances of talk being spread by word of mouth. Quibi had a subscription model which began after a 90 day free trial and it cost $4.99 a month with ads and $7.99 a month without ads. The number of subscribers for Quibi did not go according to plan as the numbers fell way below their forecasting and also due to the presence of streaming giants like Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Disney Plus and HBO Max. Since the pandemic had already begun to cripple employment, subscribers were forced to choose wisely on where to spend their money. There is also YouTube which is free and also has free ‘quick bite’ content meant Quibi’s chances of succeeding were becoming slim.
Jeffery Katzenberg initially hoped Quibi would be immune to the pandemic’s effect as people would want to consume more content. However, he later went on to blame the COVID-19 pandemic for everything which went wrong with Quibi. In an open letter both Whitman and Katzenberg wrote “Quibi is not succeeding. Likely for one of two reasons: because the idea itself wasn’t strong enough to justify a standalone streaming service or because of our timing. Unfortunately, we will never know but we suspect it’s been a combination of the two (sic.)”
Since the launch of Quibi, the application quickly fell out of the top 50 most downloaded apps within the first week.
Star Studded Signings
Quibi has recruited a who’s who of stars to work on its programming, including Chrissy Teigen, Lebron James, Dwayne Johnson, Reese Witherspoon, Chance the Rapper, Kevin Hart, Jennifer Lopez, Idris Elba, Zac Efron, Tina Fey, Liam Hemsworth, Joe Jonas and Sophie Turner. Some of the biggest names in Hollywood were roped in to make the series and they include Steven Spielberg, Guillermo del Toro, Antoine Fuqua, Catherine Hardwicke and Ridley Scott.
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Shutdown:
Both Katzenberg and Whitman raised $1.75 billion to tackle the growing digital video market with Quibi. However, due to the mounting pile of problems and the lack of diversity in viewing choices forced Quibi into shutting down and began the process of selling assets. Quibi, which employed 265 people, plans to use its remaining cash of about $350 million to pay back investors. On October 21, 2020, just six months after Quibi’s launch, The Wall Street Journal reported that the streaming service was shutting down. This news was confirmed by the Quibi founders Jeffery Katezenberg and Meg Whitman.
The story of Quibi tells us that no one is immune in the cutthroat world of startups and entrepreneurship. While Quibi set out to take on the content streaming giants, it probably fell to its own Hubris by asking consumers to subscribe for unknown new content over already established content giants like Netfllix, Disney Plus and Amazon Prime Video.