I don't mean this in a negative way, but how does a CEO retain control through a fall from $1B+ to $15M? Isn't that endemic of significant mismanagement, at least in expectations?
PCH International in Talks to Buy Fab for $15M
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Re: PCH International in Talks to Buy Fab for $15M
#12At first I was confused on who these guys were. http://techcrunch.com/2013/07/29/just-fab-sues-fab-over-trad... Two founders with the same last name found companies with the same corporate name. Not to be confused with "JustFab"[1] _____________________________________________ [1] Why can a scam company raise $40 Million Series C + $76 Million Series B? " https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6455391" http://www.matri…
Were JustFab ever legally punished for their deceptive "payment" process? I'm guessing not. Their current site now shows regular and membership options (like they did on their German site 1-2 years ago), but they still don't state it's a subscription up-front or in the costs box.
Re: PCH International in Talks to Buy Fab for $15M
#13I'm always curious what goes into a decision to sell at all in a situation like this. $336 million raised, sold for $15 million Is there actually a good reason to bother to do that? Whatever the case, this is one that'll be referred to with the market bubble of 2012-2014 (along with perhaps Twitter's former $48 billion market cap, Zynga's $15b valuation, the insanity that surrounded Groupon and its $20b valuation, an…
Probably pressure from investors who want some money back & board
Re: PCH International in Talks to Buy Fab for $15M
#14A bit bittersweet for me. I had a failed startup a year ago where we were trying to connect consumers with local woodworkers and metalworkers. At the time, we attributed our lack of success to Fab and their ability to convince consumers to focus on discounts. We had a ton of other reasons for failing but ecommerce, especially for higher ticket items is extremely difficult and definitely sucks that they didn't make it…
I'm sure Jason will be just fine.
http://www.geekwire.com/2012/lessons-learned-jobster-jason-g...
Re: PCH International in Talks to Buy Fab for $15M
#15I always really enjoyed the products Fab procured, but most of it was way outside my price range, and now they have pivoted to hem, where they sell this table ( http://hem.com/en-gb/product/bento-dinner-table-long-10022 ) for ~1200$ USD
Oddly, the table is priced identically in Euros and Dollars ($999 and 999€).
Re: PCH International in Talks to Buy Fab for $15M
#16I had the pleasure of visiting the PCH Shenzen office recently. Surprisingly cool company. Through an accelerator they help make some interesting products, including Navdy.
Quite curious to see what they'd do with the Fab brand.
Re: PCH International in Talks to Buy Fab for $15M
#17I don't mean this in a negative way, but how does a CEO retain control through a fall from $1B+ to $15M? Isn't that endemic of significant mismanagement, at least in expectations?
IMHO, it can go both ways. It can definitely be mismanagement, but it can also be mismanagement by the VCs who have outbid each other on a "hot" company. To a large extent it is the CEOs role to maximise capital raised while reducing shareholder dilution.
I don't know the specifics of Fab, but from the outside it can be anyones responsibility. Fab was valued at $1bn because investors paid that valuation, so I'd be curious to see how Fab was pitched at the investment committee in each of the VC shops during the C + D rounds: Andreessen Horowitz, Atomico...
Re: PCH International in Talks to Buy Fab for $15M
#18I always really enjoyed the products Fab procured, but most of it was way outside my price range, and now they have pivoted to hem, where they sell this table ( http://hem.com/en-gb/product/bento-dinner-table-long-10022 ) for ~1200$ USD
Oddly, the table is priced identically in Euros and Dollars ($999 and 999€).
That's fairly common. German prices include 19% sales tax.
Re: PCH International in Talks to Buy Fab for $15M
#19At first glance, it may seem like a startup that raised >$300m is selling itself for $15m but that's not the case at all. Earlier this year, Fab effectively pivoted from selling stuff designed and manufactured by other companies to designing, selling and manufacturing - and the other those words are in is significant - their own products (i.e. vertical-integration)[1]. That pivot was given a new brand (Hem.com) and it looks like the old Fab brand and business are being sold off, and the focus is now on Hem which, I presume, has the same shareholders that Fab had.
1: www.digitaltrends.com/home/hem-new-venture-fab-like-ikea-customizable-furniture/
Re: PCH International in Talks to Buy Fab for $15M
#20"Fab has seen some drastic changes in its 3 years of operation. It started out as a dating site for the gay community and then relaunched as a flash sale site for home decor. Fab announced just six months after the pivot that it had grown its membership to 2 million, "
Is that stretching the definition of pivot just a bit too far?