// STARTUP COMPARISON
Fast vs Badi
Fast failed in 2022 due to Unit Economics. Badi failed in 2022 due to Bad Timing. Different causes, different sectors, different eras — but the same simulation outcome.
| METRIC | 🔥 Fast | 🔥 Badi |
|---|---|---|
| Sector | Fintech | Proptech |
| Country | USA | Spain |
| Founded | 2019 | 2015 |
| Died | 2022 | 2022 |
| Raised | $580M | $30M |
| Peak | $580M raised | $30M raised |
| Primary Cause | Unit Economics | Bad Timing |
// WHY EACH FAILED
🔥 Fast
Unit Economics
Fast raised $580M for a one-click checkout product. Internal reports cited by TechCrunch revealed the company had approximately $600K in monthly revenue against $10M+ in monthly burn — a 17x revenue-to-burn mismatch. Unable to raise a Series C in the 2022 market, Fast shut down in April 2022. Stripe had already launched Stripe Link (a competing product) and Shopify Payments dominated the checkout space.
// LESSON
$580M raised is not a business. $600K monthly revenue against $10M monthly burn is a company racing toward zero. No amount of capital fixes a 17x revenue-to-burn ratio in a checkout category dominated by Stripe and Shopify.
$580M raised is not a business. $600K monthly revenue against $10M monthly burn is a company racing toward zero. No amount of capital fixes a 17x revenue-to-burn ratio in a checkout category dominated by Stripe and Shopify.
🔥 Badi
Bad Timing
Badi built a Tinder-style matching app for room rentals in urban markets (Barcelona, Madrid, London, NYC). The model depended entirely on urban density — young professionals needing affordable shared housing near work. COVID emptied city centers as remote work spread. Demand for urban room rentals collapsed in 2020-2021. By the time urban density recovered, cheaper competitors (Idealista, Fotocasa, SpareRoom) had consolidated the market. Badi shut down its platform in 2022.
// LESSON
Marketplaces that depend on urban density have zero pandemic resilience. Badi needed people in cities and needed them to be price-constrained. Remote work broke both assumptions simultaneously.
Marketplaces that depend on urban density have zero pandemic resilience. Badi needed people in cities and needed them to be price-constrained. Remote work broke both assumptions simultaneously.
// EXPLORE FURTHER