Seven Observations on the Biggest Failed Products

Seven observations on the biggest failed products

CB Insights' report “20 Reasons Startups Fail,” also mentioned in this article, identified lack of market need or reception for the product as the leading cause, with a frequency of 42 percent.

Another report from the same institution examines “160 of the Biggest Product Failures.” You can read selected observations below.

The chart below shows companies and brands with two or more failed products on the list.

Some familiar companies and brands appearing with one product:

Nike, Ford, General Motors, Pontiac, Cadillac, Suzuki, Nissan, Facebook, DuPont, Blackberry, Oreo, HP, Disney, Atari, Sega, Pfizer, Glaxo Smith, Netflix, Twitter, Colgate

What can we see in this report?

1. Despite the listed failures, they remain successful market players.
2. The frequency of failures does not seem significant compared with their successes.
3. Clearly, the companies behind these failed products could afford market research; launching them without research seems unlikely.
4. CB Insights also described these products as innovative.
5. These are its biggest failures, not all failures.
6. Most brands and products are American.
7. I could not determine whether these failures reflected insistence on innovation or incorrectly identified needs.

Inferences and conclusions:

1. Understanding market needs is very difficult; even market leaders make mistakes.
2. Market research using what is called the Mom Test leads you astray. (See the book The Mom Test.)