// STARTUP COMPARISON
GetSwift vs Carillion
GetSwift failed in 2019 due to Fraud. Carillion failed in 2018 due to Unit Economics. Different causes, different sectors, different eras — but the same simulation outcome.
| METRIC | 🔥 GetSwift | 🔥 Carillion |
|---|---|---|
| Sector | SaaS | SaaS |
| Country | Australia | UK |
| Founded | 2015 | 1999 |
| Died | 2019 | 2018 |
| Raised | Public (ASX) | Public company |
| Peak | A$1.2B market cap | £5.2B revenue · 43,000 employees |
| Primary Cause | Fraud | Unit Economics |
// WHY EACH FAILED
🔥 GetSwift
Fraud
GetSwift, a delivery management SaaS, listed on the ASX in 2016 and reached A$1.2B market cap. The company announced contracts with companies including Amazon, CommBank, and Yum! Brands that were either misrepresented or never finalized. ASIC (Australian Securities and Investments Commission) launched an investigation. Founders were charged with market manipulation and misleading disclosure. The company was delisted and shareholders lost hundreds of millions.
// LESSON
For ASX-listed companies, continuous disclosure obligations make premature contract announcements a criminal matter. "Partnership discussions" and "signed contracts" are legally distinct categories. Misrepresenting one as the other is market manipulation.
For ASX-listed companies, continuous disclosure obligations make premature contract announcements a criminal matter. "Partnership discussions" and "signed contracts" are legally distinct categories. Misrepresenting one as the other is market manipulation.
🔥 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