// STARTUP COMPARISON
MoviePass vs Bulb Energy
MoviePass failed in 2019 due to Unit Economics. Bulb Energy failed in 2022 due to Bad Timing. Different causes, different sectors, different eras — but the same simulation outcome.
| METRIC | 🔥 MoviePass | 🔥 Bulb Energy |
|---|---|---|
| Sector | Consumer | Consumer |
| Country | USA | UK |
| Founded | 2011 | 2015 |
| Died | 2019 | 2022 |
| Raised | $68M | £165M |
| Peak | 3M subscribers | 1.7M customers |
| Primary Cause | Unit Economics | Bad Timing |
// WHY EACH FAILED
🔥 MoviePass
Unit Economics
MoviePass charged $9.99/month while paying full theater ticket prices per visit. Heavy users went to movies daily. At 3M subscribers the company burned $40M/month and needed multiple emergency capital raises. The service collapsed in 2019 after deactivating subscriber cards mid-screening to conserve cash.
// LESSON
Subsidizing consumption is not a business model. If your price is below cost on transaction one, no scale ever fixes it. Volume amplifies the problem.
Subsidizing consumption is not a business model. If your price is below cost on transaction one, no scale ever fixes it. Volume amplifies the problem.
🔥 Bulb Energy
Bad Timing
Bulb Energy served 1.7M UK customers on fixed green energy tariffs. In 2021 wholesale gas prices surged over 400%. Locked into fixed prices, Bulb could not pass costs to customers. It entered UK government special administration in November 2021 — the largest UK energy company failure in history. Octopus Energy acquired it in 2022 for £2.4B.
// LESSON
Fixed-price contracts in commodity markets are inherently short positions. When the commodity moves against you at scale, no brand equity absorbs the loss.
Fixed-price contracts in commodity markets are inherently short positions. When the commodity moves against you at scale, no brand equity absorbs the loss.
// EXPLORE FURTHER