// startup autopsy

Decide.com

Predicted every price drop except the one on its own price tag

acquisition gone wrongAcqui-hire

Fatal mistake: Decide.com built valuable ML price-prediction tech but no defensible revenue model, making it a prime acqui-hire target rather than an independent business.

Founded	2011
Closed	2013
Country	USA
Sector	Ai

50%

Key Events Timeline

2011-01-01

FOUNDING

Decide.com founded by Mike Fridgen to use machine learning to predict electronics price drops for consumers.

2012-03-01

PRODUCT LAUNCH

Decide.com launches consumer-facing price prediction app, gaining significant media coverage and user adoption.

2013-04-01

FUNDING

Final funding round completed bringing total to $16.5M; company evaluates growth paths as eBay approaches.

2013-09-01

SHUTDOWN

eBay acquires Decide.com; website shut down and team integrated into eBay to power price intelligence features.

Full Analysis

Analyst plan

Documented cause

Decide.com developed a machine learning-powered price prediction service that analyzed electronics pricing trends to help consumers identify optimal purchase windows. The startup successfully demonstrated produ...

ct-market fit and attracted sufficient investor interest to operate as an independent entity. However, the company ultimately failed to establish a sustainable standalone business model. eBay acquired

Verified lesson

“...”

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€29.7M

Peak valuation

HypeCycle · MoatType · ResearchTags

Decide.com raised €16.5M before decide.com built valuable ml price-prediction tech but no defensible revenue model, making it a prime acqui-hire target rather than an independent business. ended it. See the documented cause, verified lesson and all failure signals.

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