// STARTUP COMPARISON
La Máquina vs Quibi
La Máquina failed in 2022 due to Unit Economics. Quibi failed in 2020 due to Bad Timing. Different causes, different sectors, different eras — but the same simulation outcome.
| METRIC | 🔥 La Máquina | 🔥 Quibi |
|---|---|---|
| Sector | Media | Media |
| Country | Chile | USA |
| Founded | 2016 | 2018 |
| Died | 2022 | 2020 |
| Raised | $2M | $1.75B |
| Peak | 2M monthly readers | $1.75B raised |
| Primary Cause | Unit Economics | Bad Timing |
// WHY EACH FAILED
🔥 La Máquina
Unit Economics
La Máquina built a digital media brand in Chile covering technology and business for 2M monthly readers. As Google and Facebook absorbed digital advertising revenue in Chile, advertising rates for local publishers fell 60% between 2016 and 2022. The company attempted to transition to paid subscriptions but the Chilean market's subscription adoption was too slow to offset advertising revenue losses. La Máquina shut down in 2022.
// LESSON
Digital media advertising models are in terminal structural decline in every market Google and Facebook reach. Start the subscription transition before you need it. By the time advertising revenue is insufficient, you have two years of runway left — not enough to build a subscription base.
Digital media advertising models are in terminal structural decline in every market Google and Facebook reach. Start the subscription transition before you need it. By the time advertising revenue is insufficient, you have two years of runway left — not enough to build a subscription base.
🔥 Quibi
Bad Timing
Quibi launched April 6, 2020 — two weeks after global COVID lockdowns began. The product was designed for commuters watching short videos on phones. With everyone at home on TVs, the core use case vanished. Quibi shut down in October 2020 after 6 months, returning $350M to investors.
// LESSON
No capital fixes a product designed for a world that no longer exists at launch. Market timing is not a growth problem — it is an existence problem.
No capital fixes a product designed for a world that no longer exists at launch. Market timing is not a growth problem — it is an existence problem.
// EXPLORE FURTHER