// STARTUP COMPARISON
Percentil vs Fast
Percentil failed in 2019 due to Unit Economics. Fast failed in 2022 due to Unit Economics. Both failed for the same reason — Unit Economics.
| METRIC | 🔥 Percentil | 🔥 Fast |
|---|---|---|
| Sector | Ecommerce | Fintech |
| Country | Spain | USA |
| Founded | 2012 | 2019 |
| Died | 2019 | 2022 |
| Raised | €5M | $580M |
| Peak | €5M raised | $580M raised |
| Primary Cause | Unit Economics | Unit Economics |
// WHY EACH FAILED
🔥 Percentil
Unit Economics
Percentil built a curated secondhand children's clothing marketplace in Spain, raising €5M and achieving strong early traction. The core unit economics problem: each transaction required photographing, categorizing, storing, and shipping individual low-value items (average basket €20-30). The logistics cost per item was too close to the item value to achieve positive margins at any realistic scale. The company shut down in 2019 after failing to raise Series B.
// LESSON
Secondhand marketplaces with sub-€40 average baskets face a structural logistics trap. The unit economics only work if the seller handles logistics (C2C), not the platform (managed). Percentil chose managed — and paid for it.
Secondhand marketplaces with sub-€40 average baskets face a structural logistics trap. The unit economics only work if the seller handles logistics (C2C), not the platform (managed). Percentil chose managed — and paid for it.
🔥 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.
// EXPLORE FURTHER