Invertopedia
Entry 001 · Startup · Media · Public record

Quibi

$1.75 billion, premium shows cut into ten-minute chapters, and a shutdown announced six and a half months after launch.

01The Bet

Hollywood-quality shows, made for phones and cut into chapters of ten minutes or less, would fill the gaps in people's days: the commute, the queue, the waiting room. People would pay a monthly subscription for it, on top of the services they already had.

02What Happened

  1. Jeffrey Katzenberg founds the company as NewTV, with Meg Whitman as CEO. It raises $1 billion from studios, telecoms and banks, and becomes Quibi that October.
  2. Quibi lays out its launch plans at CES.
  3. About $750 million more comes in, bringing the total to $1.75 billion.
  4. Launches in the US and Canada, weeks into COVID-19 lockdowns. There's no way to watch on a TV.
  5. TV casting and sharing to social media are added after launch.
  6. The founders confirm Quibi is shutting down.
  7. The service goes dark.
  8. Roku buys the content library for a reported price under $100 million.

03The Kill Shot

Nobody needed it. Short video on phones was already free and endless, and Quibi charged for it.

The pandemic gets the headlines, and it did take away the commutes the product was built for. But the deeper problem was that the bet was never tested before the money was spent. Katzenberg told Deadline that carrying on "was just going to spend a whole lot more money without any value to show for it."

04Red Flags Ignored

  • The competition was free. YouTube, TikTok and Instagram already owned short video on phones.
  • It couldn't travel. Short video spreads by sharing, and sharing to social media only arrived after launch.
  • Phone-only at launch. When everyone was suddenly home on the couch, there was no way to put it on the TV.
  • Content first, demand second. Big budgets were committed before there was any sign people would pay.

05The Cost

$1.75 billion raised. Shutdown announced about six and a half months after launch. The library sold to Roku for a reported price under $100 million.

06The Inversion

Prove the habit exists before you pay for the content. Test whether people will pay with the cheapest version you can make, and make sure it can travel where your audience already spends its time.

07What Survived

The shows. Roku bought the library on the condition that it stays short-form and released it as Roku Originals.

This is an analysis built from the public record, not an insider account. Spot an error? Tell us.

Sources.