| Founded | 2009 |
|---|---|
| Closed | 2016 |
| Country | USA |
| Sector | Media |
| Collapse type | Slow Death |
| Founder | Rich Ziade, Tim Meaney |
Readability
"The tool that made the web readable but couldn't make reading pay."
Years-long decline before final shutdown
Key Events Timeline
Readability, built by Arc90 as a clean-reading browser tool, pivoted in 2012 to a publisher micropayment platform where subscribers paid $5-$10/month to fund writers.
// full analysis
Full analysis requires the Analyst plan
Documented cause · Market cycle · Competitive moat type · Verified lesson
€149/mo · or contribute your autopsy for free access →
UnicornBurn Season 0 opens July 2026. 10,000 founders competing in one world. Your startup fights for the market every Saturday. Most will end up here. Which one are you?
JOIN SEASON 0 →Readability followed a documented pattern. Identify the same signals in any company before they reach the point of no return.
Witnessed a startup failure first-hand? Share the real story. First-hand accounts from founders and team members get prioritized for publication.
SUBMIT AN AUTOPSY →Failure intelligence for due diligence and risk analysis.
Structured dataset by collapse type, for 5031 startups. 7-day trial.
See plans →Free JSON API. No key required. 50 autopsies, 10 req/day.
Full dataset available with Intelligence plan API key. CORS enabled.
Explore API →Academic, press, or research use? Free JSON API available — no auth required →