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Atrium shuts down, laying off 100

techcrunch.com

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Re: Atrium shuts down, laying off 100

#11

Post by tempsy »

notlukesky wrote: post #6

Let’s wait for the full autopsy but perhaps a better strategy would have been supplying tools and software to lawfirms, aggregating data and knowhow and then pivoting to an “automated” law firm as a service. But hindsight is always 20/20

I saw some reviews online here and there and it sounded like the biggest complaint was that it was expensive for what it was and it was never clear who would respond to a request and when (e.g. fungible lawyers taking random requests)

Most startups will want to build a relationship with an actual lawyer, and having something like a LegalZoom for startups didn’t make sense for most.

Re: Atrium shuts down, laying off 100

#12

Post by noway421 »

It sucks. Not even sure they should've called it so fast, why not keep going and try to figure it out till the money runs out. Investors would be OK with that.

I wonder when Justin lost his conviction? I don't believe you can lose conviction in 2 month.

Re: Atrium shuts down, laying off 100

#13

Post by tempsy »

noway421 wrote: post #12

It sucks. Not even sure they should've called it so fast, why not keep going and try to figure it out till the money runs out. Investors would be OK with that. I wonder when Justin lost his conviction? I don't believe you can lose conviction in 2 month.

working at a zombie company that has no traction is not fun for anyone

part of the “challenge” of being a famous founder is you can raise pre product.

$75M seems insane for a company like that. Burn couldn’t have been that high, mostly rent and salaries, no heavy computation, etc.

Re: Atrium shuts down, laying off 100

#14

Post by baddox »

tempsy wrote: post #13
noway421 wrote: post #12

It sucks. Not even sure they should've called it so fast, why not keep going and try to figure it out till the money runs out. Investors would be OK with that. I wonder when Justin lost his conviction? I don't believe you can lose conviction in 2 month.

working at a zombie company that has no traction is not fun for anyone part of the “challenge” of being a famous founder is you can raise pre product. $75M seems insane for a company like that. Burn couldn’t have been that high, mostly rent and salaries, no heavy computation, etc.

Wouldn't rent and salaries (at least in the SF Bay Area) almost always be vastly more expensive than computation?

Re: Atrium shuts down, laying off 100

#17

Post by idoh »

bfung wrote: post #15

Kudos to shutting down instead of dredging on. It's never an easy choice, but giving everyone closure helps everyone to move on.

They shut down with 75 million in the bank a couple months after the pivot. I think there is more to the story.

Re: Atrium shuts down, laying off 100

#18

Post by prawn »

noway421 wrote: post #12

It sucks. Not even sure they should've called it so fast, why not keep going and try to figure it out till the money runs out. Investors would be OK with that. I wonder when Justin lost his conviction? I don't believe you can lose conviction in 2 month.

Would you retain better rapport with the investors if you returned money and started something fresh rather than persisted when you were lacking conviction?

Re: Atrium shuts down, laying off 100

#19

Post by berberous »

dustingetz wrote: post #16

what if a startup charged $300 per month for all you can eat email legal advice backed by a rich library of templates? they would instantly dominate and there are 6M small businesses in the USA alone

You get what you pay for. $300 is 20 minutes of a good lawyer’s time. The economics don’t work.

Re: Atrium shuts down, laying off 100

#20

Post by ttul »

noway421 wrote: post #12

It sucks. Not even sure they should've called it so fast, why not keep going and try to figure it out till the money runs out. Investors would be OK with that. I wonder when Justin lost his conviction? I don't believe you can lose conviction in 2 month.

If you're already rich (as Justin is) and realize how big an upside can be, why not flush the toilet and start over? For a guy like Justin, time is the most precious commodity because money is meaningless.
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