6 comments

  • Daniel FoscoDaniel Fosco, over 8 years ago (edited over 8 years ago )

    Good idea, but the execution is really lacking.

    Aside from the terribly ugly and cramped* design, I don't know where the "reason for failure" comes from — is it a post-mortem from the founder or a tagline by the submitter? Also not sure what to do with a list of 150 articles hitting me like a brick wall.

    I get the need to launch fast, but after a certain point, poor design decisions (or no decisions at all) start affecting your value proposition. I feel like having a Google Spreadsheet with a custom domain might be a little too early to launch — but hey, to each their own, you do have 15k+ daily views.

    On a side note, what I would really love to see in this area is discussion with founders right after their startup closes shop. Product Hunt would be great for this, but I'm not sure it fits with the happy-go-lucky startup vibe they have going on there.

    * This is Designer News, I'm entitled to these

    4 points
    • Wassim BWassim B, over 8 years ago

      Good points Daniel. I'm not the original author btw.

      0 points
    • Mitch Malone, over 8 years ago

      It's funny you mention that because I was coming hear to comment that almost none of the companies folded due to a poorly designed product.

      You could interpret a few, like Plancast, had reasons that could be interpreted as design problems. But for the most part, they failed due to funding or product/market fit problems. Of course, it also depends on what you're definition of product and design are.

      0 points
  • Catalin CimpanuCatalin Cimpanu, over 8 years ago

    Hurts my insides seeing LayerVault on there.... |x_x|

    3 points
  • Calvin FennellCalvin Fennell, over 8 years ago

    As mentioned before, the design is obviously lacking, but more than that I feel like there is more potential here than just cataloguing products that fell flat and linking to the death post. I'd love to see this turn into a magazine that examines all the factors that went into a startup's failure, with interviews and independent expert analysis.

    0 points
  • Matt SistoMatt Sisto, over 8 years ago (edited over 8 years ago )

    Good MVP. Now build a real site! :trollface:

    But really, it's all there, just make it SIZZLE.

    0 points