Silicon Valley is where startups go to become sweeping success stories. However, there is a flip side to the magic of Silicon Valley. Startups not only rise, they also fail. As the weekend comes on us, here is looking at startups that failed before they could take off the right way!
1. Blackberry
Before the iPhone became what it is today, the Blackberry was the phone everyone wanted to own. Not only was it a device, it was a cult. However, before the “crackheads” (as they were unoficially called) could change the world with this device, something went wrong. Research in Motion (RIM) as Blackberry was formally called, failed to keep up with the changing pace of the world. RIM refused to change its technology and stuck to the traditional forms, without moving up the ladder like the iPhone. What started off as a bang fizzled down to a sale of only 4 million devices annually by the year 2016. Now, out of production and out of business, Blackberry is but a mere shadow of its former self. However, despite the failure of the device, Blackberry did set in motion a smartphone revolution like never before!
2. AOL
The failure of AOL (America Online) was a disastrous event that still surprises people. Not only did the service give detailed information in a quick manner, its instant messaging service was also arguably the best in the world at the point. However, the email service refused to grow with the world and accepted defeat with the quick growth of Gmail and Yahoo. Incidentally, Gmail’s “You’ve Got Mail” notification clinched the email platform’s presence in the world with complete surety.
3. My Space
Back in the day, My Space was were stars were born and musicians were launched. In fact, it was given the title of being among the top 50 best websites in the year 2006. However, Facebook came, saw and conquered and My Space was left crawling in the dust like a helpless animal.
4. Kodak
Kodak was the inventor of the traditional form of photography in the 20th century. Steve Sasson, the man who invented the first digital camera in the year 1975, was actually asked by his supervisors to not do anything. They did not see the value of digital photography and this one reason inevitably resulted in Kodak’s halt to world domination in the form of pictures!
5. Nokia
If the Blackberry refused to grow with touch technology, Nokia refused to look at data as the next big thing. While other smartphone companies circled towards this change, Nokia shrunk away and refused to accept this form of growth. This caused Nokia to develop a mess of an operating system with a bad user experience that just was not a fit for an always expanding market and thus, failure was but very obvious.
Every company has to start some where. Every company has to grow and fall and failures comes as a part of the parcel. If you think we missed any startups, please comment and let us know!
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May 27, 2025 at 5:32 am
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