Kozmo delivered DVDs and snacks in one hour — and burned $280M doing it
Kozmo promised free one-hour delivery of DVDs, games, and snacks in major US cities. It raised $280M, expanded to 11 cities, and shut down in April 2001.
Read the casemistake.clubA CASESTUDIES.CHAT ARCHIVE
Learn from mistakes.
Preferably not your own.
Business failures, costly decisions and the lessons they leave behind.
The full archive, in the appPublished cases
3,222 PUBLISHED CASES · REGULARLY UPDATEDBombardier spent $6B building the CSeries — then gave it to Airbus for $1
Bombardier spent $6B building the CSeries jet and nearly went bankrupt. In 2018, it sold the majority stake to Airbus for $1.
Read the caseKaterra raised $2B to disrupt construction — then went bankrupt
Backed by SoftBank's Vision Fund, Katerra tried to vertically integrate construction. It raised $2B+, employed 8,000, and filed Chapter 11 in June 2021.
Read the caseLa Polar rewrote 420,000 customers' debts without asking, for six years
Chile's fourth-largest retailer booked restructured bad debt as performing. When it admitted it in 2011, it had never actually been profitable.
Read the casePandora's stock fell 80% when it tried to make charm bracelets into luxury jewelry
Pandora pushed its charm bracelets upmarket on higher prices in 2011. Volumes fell, the 30% growth forecast went to zero, and the shares lost nearly 80%.
Read the casePerrier recalled 160 million bottles over benzene — and Nestlé swallowed the brand
A lab found benzene in Perrier in 1990. The recall of 160M bottles weakened the brand so badly that Nestlé acquired it within two years.
Read the caseAvon spent $500M trying to make China work — $135M of it was a bribery fine
Avon's China unit paid officials for licenses after the direct-selling ban. The SEC and DOJ charged FCPA violations; the total bill was half a billion dollars.
Read the caseDamiani went public at €150M — eleven years later the family bought it back for €12M
Italy's third-generation jeweler IPO'd in 2007, lost 75% of its value, posted an €18M loss, and delisted in 2019 at €0.855 a share.
Read the caseLe Château dressed Canada for 60 years — then lost $35M a year and closed all 123 stores
Canada's oldest fashion chain peaked at 240 stores and CA$237M revenue, bled $35M annually from 2014, and filed CCAA in October 2020.
Read the caseLIP, France's watchmaking icon, saw quartz coming and still went under
Once France's great watchmaker with 1,300 workers, LIP built the country's first quartz watch in 1973 — too late and too indebted. It was liquidated in 1977.
Read the caseDaslu's import tax-evasion scheme destroyed Brazil's 'temple of luxury'
São Paulo's flagship luxury emporium Daslu was raided for import tax evasion, fined R$236M, and sold out of bankruptcy in 2011 for a symbolic R$1,000.
Read the caseLuk Fook bet on Hong Kong's gold rush — then same-store sales fell 37%
When gold plunged in 2013, mainland buyers rushed Hong Kong's jewelers. Luk Fook built for that boom. When it reversed, same-store sales fell 37%.
Read the caseeBay's 2014 breach exposed 145M users — and the company waited three months to tell them
In 2014, hackers stole 145M eBay user records using employee credentials. eBay discovered it in May but didn't notify users until the press broke the story.
Read the caseSignature Bank was the crypto-friendly bank — and it failed two days after SVB
Signature Bank, a crypto-focused lender, was seized by regulators on March 12, 2023, two days after SVB collapsed. Third-largest US bank failure.
Read the caseAOL bought Bebo for $850M — and sold it back for $10M two years later
AOL bought UK social network Bebo for $850M in 2008. Facebook overtook it. AOL sold Bebo for $10M in 2010 — a 98.8% loss in two years.
Read the caseCelsius promised 18% yields on crypto deposits — and it was a $12B house of cards
Celsius offered 18% yields on crypto deposits by lending to risky borrowers. When the market fell in 2022, Celsius froze withdrawals and filed for bankruptcy.
Read the caseHome Depot's breach stole 56M payment cards — the hackers used a vendor's credentials
In 2014, hackers stole 56M payment card numbers from Home Depot using a vendor's credentials. It was the largest retail breach at the time.
Read the caseSony's PSN breach exposed 77M accounts — and the network was down 23 days
In April 2011, hackers breached Sony's PlayStation Network, exposing 77M accounts. The network was down for 23 days. Sony paid $171M in costs.
Read the caseAnthem's breach exposed 78.8M health records — the largest healthcare data theft
In 2015, hackers stole 78.8M health records from Anthem, the US health insurer. Names, SSNs, medical IDs and income data were compromised.
Read the caseLord & Taylor was America's oldest department store — and it closed all 38 stores in 2020
Lord & Taylor, founded in 1826, was America's oldest department store. It closed all 38 stores in 2020 after a private equity buyout and the pandemic.
Read the case