Why Cyanogen Inc. Failed: Founder Chaos | Startup Autopsy
$110M
Raised
3y
Time to collapse
$1.0B
Peak valuation
// startup autopsy
Cyanogen Inc.
The $110M startup that tried to build an Android without Google — raised money from Qualcomm, Microsoft, and Samsung to unseat Google's control of mobile, and shut down after 3 years
Evaluating only Cyanogen Inc.’s profile at its peak — without knowing the outcome — the model ranked Founder chaos as the #1 likely cause. That’s exactly how it died.
Key Events Timeline
FOUNDING
Cyanogen Inc. founded
CEO CHANGE
Leadership crisis or CEO change
SHUTDOWN
Sudden Collapse: Cyanogen Inc. ceases operations
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Documented cause
CyanogenMod was an open-source Android distribution loved by power users for enabling features Google had locked out. Kirt McMaster and Steve Kondik (CyanogenMod's creator) founded Cyanogen Inc. in 2013 to commercialise it. The company raised $110M from Andreessen Horowitz, Qualcomm Ventures, Samsung, Microsoft, and others with a stated mission: "We're going to take Android away from Google." Cyanogen signed exclusive deals to pre-install its OS on OnePlus phones, and later signed deals with device makers in India and Europe. Microsoft invested hoping to use Cyanogen to build an Android distribution that removed Google services and replaced them with Microsoft services. The plan unravelled on multiple fronts: OnePlus exited the exclusive deal; device partners lost confidence; Kirt McMaster was ousted as CEO; and Steve Kondik left after a public feud with leadership. Cyanogen Inc. shut down in December 2016. The open-source CyanogenMod community forked it as LineageOS, which continues.