Ford Pinto - Failure Museum

Ford Pinto

In 1978, the Ford Pinto bursted into flames if its gas tank was ruptured in a collision.

DeLorean

DeLorean

In 1989, DeLorean was marketed as a luxury sports car, but with a severely underpowered engine the car was painfully slow.

Jawbone - Failure Museum

Jawbone

A flaw in product forced them to miss the 2014 holiday season and lose to Apple & Fitbit.

Napster2

Napster

Complications with piracy and copywriting laws led to Napster’s demise in 2001.

eToys - Failure Museum

eToys

eToys built an infrastructure they only needed 3 weeks a year; went bankrupt 2 years after their 1999 IPO.

eToys couldn’t get the economics to work. On the day the toy seller went public in May 1999, it reached a valuation of $7.7 billion, 35% greater than Toys “R” Us. That was all the more remarkable given that in its most recent fiscal year, eToys had revenue of $34.5 million and lost $73.1 million. The company vastly overestimated its potential share of the market, losing out to more established competitors like Walmart and, you guessed it, Toys “R” Us. Meanwhile, its infrastructure costs soared. EToys filed for bankruptcy and shut down in March 2001.

Palm

Palm

In 2011, Palm was slow to realize that consumers wanted wireless voice and data from the same device.

Excite@Home

Excite@Home

Excite@Home’s ill-conceived acquisitions, frequent strategy shifts, and executives who governed the operations from afar led to it’s demise in 2001.