Theranos and Pets.com are among some of the biggest startup failures ever

Read a primer on Elizabeth Holmes, the disgraced founder of biotech startup Theranos who was sentenced to prison for defrauding investors.

Pets.com is one of the most emblematic dot-com companies

Pets.com—an e-commerce pet store webpage—is a prime example of dot-com companies burning through investments. Despite being a popular and well-known brand, the company struggled to generate enough revenue to become profitable. After raising approximately $82.5M in its February 2000 initial public offering, Pets.com filed for bankruptcy in November of that same year.

IPOs that failed

Plenty of private companies fail once they try to go public. Failing can mean shares sell for less than their initial asking price on its IPO date, or it can look like a company pulling out of the IPO process at the last minute. Some companies with failed IPOs include Pets.com, Etsy, and Robinhood. Learn more about these companies and others here.

Many of the 2010s girlboss-era founders experienced a public fall from grace in 2020

In the 2010s, dozens of female founders were celebrated on the covers of business magazines like Inc. for their recent startup success, from Emily Weiss’s Glossier makeup brand to Steph Korey’s Away luggage company. But many of these companies were also the subject of large takedown articles around the year 2020.

2023's worst performing US IPOs

While an IPO is a huge milestone, it isn't always a total success in the long-term. This data visualization shows some of the worst-performing IPOs of 2023, based on their percentage returns at the end of the year, It includes an NFT gaming company and a Chinese EV battery company.

See the 25 largest initial public offerings in US history.

These 25 companies—which include UPS, Uber Technologies, AT&T, and The Kraft Heinz Co.—had some of the biggest IPO drops in US history. However, not all these drops led to long-term (or even immediate) success.

According to some estimates, roughly 75% of venture-backed startups fail, making startups inherently risky ventures.

Just because a big name company is going public doesn’t guarantee a successful stock

A reporter dove into how highly anticipated IPOs can still be risky, and why retail investors should be wary of investing right away.

The Failure Museum is a curated collection of over 1,000 items representing failed products and companies

Sean Jacobsohn, a tech investor and founder of the Failure Museum, uses items from failed businesses to explain the six primary forces behind their flops, from a Theranos mug to a Blockbuster membership card.

Many startup founders pull out-of-the-box stunts to get their businesses off the ground.

See which companies folded and which survived the dot-com crash

Companies that primarily used the web as a platform for doing business were more vulnerable than companies that created technology. While hardware and software companies managed to make it to the other side, most e-commerce companies took a brutal beating and share prices plummeted.

Read the Forbes 30 Under 30 Hall of Shame, a list of dubious people Forbes honored before their wrongdoings were revealed.

The main bank serving Silicon Valley startups and venture capitalists collapsed in 2023

Silicon Valley Bank—the 16th largest bank in the US—served many tech startups in the area as well as many venture capitalists. The bank collapsed in 2023—in a single day, bankers took out $42B.

The dot-com boom sent tech stocks soaring before a historic collapse

A look at the dot-com bubble, when investors poured money into unproven internet startups, driving the Nasdaq to dizzying heights before it crashed by more than 80% after 2000, showing how new technologies can detach markets from reality.

Many original dot-com company founders were bought out early on

The people who bought the original domains for dot-com companies and had the ideas to start businesses were often bought out by investors before becoming well-known companies. Both Pets.com and Broadcast.com were acquired early on.

Despite many influencers having loyal followings, creator-led brands often fail when the hype from first-time buyers dies down and doesn't translate into repeat purchases.

7 prominent investors rejected Airbnb in its early days

Airbnb is arguably known as one of the most successful startup stories of all time. But back in 2008, many prominent investors rejected their pitch when they went out to raise money—and Airbnb's founder still has the rejection emails to prove it.

PetSmart and Hilton are among 10 of the most famous leveraged buyouts in history

Some of the most famous leveraged buyout deals include Blackstone's 2007 acquisition of Hilton Hotels, in which Blackstone took the then-public company private and then returned it to the public markets in 2013. A British PE firm bought PetSmart for $9B in 2014—one of the most expensive leveraged buyouts since 2007.

The term 'startup'—which is typically used to describe private companies in their early stages of operation that focus on innovating new products or services to meet a market gap—can be traced back to a 1976 Forbes article.

See how SpaceX compares to history's other largest IPOs.

The Girlboss TV show is generally regarded as a failure

Sophia Amoruso’s memoir, “#Girlboss,” spawned more than just a cultural movement—it also inspired an ill-fated television show that is remembered as one of Netflix’s first major failures.

The top 100 companies in Silicon Valley

Silicon Valley has pumped out some of the biggest companies in the world, including Apple, Meta, and Google. Thousands of companies operate in the area, ranging from valuations in the trillions to startups only worth thousands.

Explore Bessemer's anti-portfolio of missed opportunities

From Pinterest to Yelp, Bessemer Venture Partners—one of the most well-known VC firms—has invested in many successful companies over the years. But the firm has also kicked itself for passing on a few great opportunities, like Apple and Google. Check out the other companies in Bessemer's "anti-portfolio" here.

The evolution of X, from startup to Musk-owned giant, reflects rapid tech shifts

Twitter began in 2006 as a side project and grew into a major global platform, widely used for news, activism, and political discourse. Despite mainstream success, it faced ongoing management turmoil, business struggles, and rising concerns over misinformation and user safety.

The full story of WeWork, one of the most dramatic startup journeys of all time

WeWork has been through a lot since the office space company was founded as a startup in 2010. From its failed IPO in 2019, to the various leadership antics of its founder, Adam Neumann (some have claimed that he acted like a cult leader at times), to how it navigated remote work trends during the pandemic, this video tells the full story of WeWork's growth, failures, and more.

Visualize where the first batch of founders from the famous startup accelerator Y Combinator are now.

More than 650 companies went public in the US in 1996

As the dot-com bubble reached its peak, most dot-com companies went public with little proof of being profitable and were often overvalued. In 1999, the Nasdaq's price-to-earnings ratio (a tool used to determine a stock's value that divides its price by earnings) hit 90.2, signaling that many companies were operating at a net loss. Startups promised investors that more time and money would help scale their businesses and become profitable.

Elon Musk's $100M investment in SpaceX was lost to three failed rocket launches

The attempts with Falcon 1 endangered the company's future but provided valuable information from which to iterate and follow up with the successful first privately funded orbital launch in history and multiple ISS resupply missions.

Venture capitalists were once bullish on DTC brands

While a physical store can only hold so many objects, online retailers without the limits of four walls that could sell their products direct-to-consumer could theoretically be great investments. But they didn’t always provide investors with expected returns.

Why did WeWork fail and why it's still around

Once valued at $47B, WeWork promised to revolutionize office space—but rapid expansion, financial red flags, and a pandemic-driven shift in work culture led to its 2023 bankruptcy. This overview looks at its rise and fall, and what’s next for the coworking giant.

Many of the top companies in the US by market cap began as tech startups

Combined, the top seven companies by market cap in the US as of December 2024—Apple, Nvidia, Microsoft, Alphabet, Amazon, Meta, and Tesla—were worth more than $16T at the time.

Startup accelerators that include more training activities, such as pitch competitions, tend to have better long-term success rates

That's according to a new study from Wharton. Y-Combinator, perhaps the most famous startup accelerator, currently has 16 alumni companies trading on the public market. But not every entrepreneur who joins a startup accelerator makes it big.

The dot-com bubble burst in the early 2000s

If you’ve heard of companies like Google and Yahoo, you’re already partially familiar with the dot-com bubble: a period from roughly 1995 to 2001, when internet companies were the hottest thing in venture capital. The “bubble” part of the term refers to the industry’s eventual implosion.

Early-stage investors say ‘no’ to the vast majority of funding pitches

Angel investor Alicia Syrett details the top reasons investors turn down entrepreneurs. For example, the entrepreneur didn’t do their homework by, for instance, not researching the investor.

The fitness industry has seen a lot of fads—and Peloton might be one of them

Like SoulCycle and Tae Bo, Peloton has struggled to stay at the forefront of the fitness industry. Despite periods of incredibly high interest and high-profile users (like the Obamas), Peloton has lost many users since the pandemic ended—and has struggled to add more. (Some users may experience a paywall.)

'Startups' can be defined as small, early-stage companies that are designed to grow fast.

The world's 50 most valuable private companies

While public companies typically have the highest valuations, private companies get close. This list breaks down the top 50 as of 2025, with SpaceX at the top with a value of $350B, followed by ByteDance. Over three-fifths of the list are located in the US, with eight in China.

Stanford and Harvard are among the universities producing the most startup founders

Not all startup founders are created equal. This data visualization of the universities that produce the most startup founders is based on the number of alumni who have raised venture capital funding for their companies. That means these alums had to do much more than put "entrepreneur" in their LinkedIn bio to be considered startup founders.

Read about why America is obsessed with the stories of financial scammers.

WeWork, once a unicorn, declared bankruptcy in 2023

This podcast episode chronicles the complete rise and fall of WeWork—from its founding in 2010 to its eventual 2023 bankruptcy.

Crypto history's is full of bizarre stories

Digital currencies based solely on misspellings of former President Joe Biden’s name have skyrocketed, and backers of a token based on a Shiba Inu wearing a hat raised $690K to get their logo on the Las Vegas Sphere.

A 'unicorn' is a private company with a $1B-plus valuation

Just like a horse with a spiraling horn on its head, private companies with a more than $1B valuation are rare creatures. But unlike the mythical creature, this type of “unicorn” is occasionally spotted in the wild. Unicorn companies include SpaceX, OpenAI, Skims, and more.

Peloton's founder once said the company 'sells happiness' before a disappointing initial public offering

Ahead of the company's IPO, Peloton founder John Foley told investors that "on the most basic level, Peloton sells happiness." However, the inspirational sentiment didn't stick with investors—the company closed the day of its IPO with stocks trading down 11% from the IPO price. (Some users may experience a paywall.)

Explaining the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank

In March 2023, Silicon Valley Bank—the nation's 16th largest bank at the time—collapsed after a rapid run on its deposits. Among other factors, the bank had placed more than half of its investments into long-term bonds, leaving it without the necessary cash on hand as its clients, largely start ups, panicked and withdrew their money at the same time. This visualization lays out the timeline and impact of the collapse.

More than 400 investors turned Peloton down in its initial funding rounds

Peloton founder John Foley said investors rejected the company's initial funding requests because there was no clear indication of what the market for at-home fitness classes looked like. Ultimately, more than 200 angel investors gave the company its first round of cash. (Some users may experience a paywall.)

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has called OpenAI 'the most capital-intensive startup in history'

As of 2024, Silicon Valley was set to spend $1T in the coming years building AI. As companies, including Google and Microsoft, fling billions at AI dreams, concerns are rising about whether that money will ever be recouped. To learn about the argument that there is an AI bubble—and that it could soon burst if AI doesn't prove its worth—read this article.

FTX, one of the world's largest crypto exchanges, collapsed in 2022

As crypto markets declined during the post-pandemic slowdown, Sam Bankman-Fried propped up the markets with billions he'd earned leading FTX, one of the largest crypto exchanges. Then, in one of the most rapid financial implosions in modern history, the exchange collapsed as investors rushed to withdraw money.

Unlike small businesses, startups aim to disrupt entire industries

They also differ from small businesses in that startups have a higher level of risk, may take on outside funding from venture capital firms to boost growth, and more.

Many startups now have shoes-off policies

This website keeps track of startups with "no-shoes" offices so you can browse a list of barefoot companies—plus, see which of them are hiring.

Stanford’s ‘How to Start a Startup’ series

Stanford’s archive of lectures about creating a startup includes advice from Y Combinator notables such as former YC president and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and YC Cofounder Paul Graham.