// STARTUP COMPARISON
ContaAzul (acquisition) vs Carillion
ContaAzul (acquisition) failed in 2020 due to Acquisition Gone Wrong. Carillion failed in 2018 due to Unit Economics. Different causes, different sectors, different eras — but the same simulation outcome.
| METRIC | 🔥 ContaAzul (acquisition) | 🔥 Carillion |
|---|---|---|
| Sector | SaaS | SaaS |
| Country | Brazil | UK |
| Founded | 2011 | 1999 |
| Died | 2020 | 2018 |
| Raised | $100M | Public company |
| Peak | $100M raised | £5.2B revenue · 43,000 employees |
| Primary Cause | Acquisition Gone Wrong | Unit Economics |
// WHY EACH FAILED
🔥 ContaAzul (acquisition)
Acquisition Gone Wrong
ContaAzul was Brazil's leading cloud accounting platform for small businesses, raising $100M. Norwegian software conglomerate Visma acquired ContaAzul in 2020. Post-acquisition, the Brazilian product roadmap was aligned with Visma's European product suite. Local feature development slowed, key product managers and engineers departed, and competition from domestic alternatives (Omie, Nibo) gained ground as ContaAzul's local responsiveness declined.
// LESSON
Brazilian accounting SaaS has uniquely complex local regulatory requirements (Nota Fiscal, SPED, eSocial). A European acquirer that cannot prioritize these requirements over their global product roadmap will lose market share to domestic competitors who can.
Brazilian accounting SaaS has uniquely complex local regulatory requirements (Nota Fiscal, SPED, eSocial). A European acquirer that cannot prioritize these requirements over their global product roadmap will lose market share to domestic competitors who can.
🔥 Carillion
Unit Economics
Carillion was the UK's second-largest construction and services company with £5.2B revenue and thousands of government contracts. It carried £1.5B in pension deficits and £900M in debt. Three profit warnings in 2017 exposed structural insolvency. It entered compulsory liquidation in January 2018 — the largest ever UK trading liquidation — leaving 43,000 employees and thousands of subcontractors unpaid.
// LESSON
Revenue is not solvency. A company with £5.2B in revenue and £2.4B in combined pension and debt obligations is not viable — it is a zombie awaiting a trigger event.
Revenue is not solvency. A company with £5.2B in revenue and £2.4B in combined pension and debt obligations is not viable — it is a zombie awaiting a trigger event.
// EXPLORE FURTHER