This document analyzes the failure patterns of 45 collaborative economy companies. The top reasons for company closures were issues with scale (24%), an unclear value proposition (15%), and insufficient funding (14%). For acquisitions, scale (33%) and funding (27%) were also common challenges. Pivots often occurred due to an invalidated product offering (30%) or lack of product focus (30%). Regulatory issues were the primary cause of PR problems (56%). In summary, this failure map found that scaling the business and clearly defining the value proposition were the most frequent contributors to collaborative companies failing or needing to change their business model.

1. COLLABORATIVE ECONOMY
FAILURE MAP

2. Accoleo Spinlister (formerly
Doliquid)
Lending Club ProFounder The Amazings
Airbnb Exec Loanio Prosper The Sharing Engine
Arribaa Neighborgoods
(formerly FavorTree)
Loosecubes RelayRides TutorSpree
BlackJet Gidsy Lourish Rentalic Uber
Car2Go London GoLoco Milk.ly Getable (formerly
Rentcycle)
Vayable
Cherry HeyNeighbor! Monkey Parking RideJoy Wheelz
Crashpadder HiGear Neighborrow Scaffold WhipCar
Credport Housebites OhSoWe SprideShare Zaarly
Divvy Legit.Co PhillyCarShare Swap.com Zimride
2
Failure Mapping – 45 Companies Reviewed
=
Closure
=
S,ll
in
opera,on

3. # of Companies by Vertical
5 Neighborhood Marketplaces 1 P2P Parking Marketplaces
4 Ridesharing Platforms 1 P2P Produce Marketplaces
4 P2P Carsharing Platforms 1 P2P Funding Platform
4 Task Marketplaces 1 P2P Luxury Vehicle Sharing
3 Experience Marketplaces 1 Coworking Space Marketplaces
3 P2P Accommodation Platforms 1 On-Demand Ridesharing
3 P2P Loan Marketplaces 1 Swap Marketplaces
3 Reputation Providers 1 Meal Sharing Platforms
2 Skillsharing Marketplaces 1 P2P Bicycle Sharing
2 Carsharing Platforms 1 B2B Rental Marketplaces
2 White-label sharing platforms
# of Companies by Type
25 Closures
8 Acquisitions
6 Pivots
6 PR Issues
# of Companies by Model
38 P2P Business Models
5 B2B Business Models
2 B2C Business Models
# of Companies by Country
35 United States Companies
7 United Kingdom Companies
2 European Companies
1 Australian Company 3
Failure Mapping – Key Statistics

4. Reason Explanation
Scale The company was not able to reach a sufficient level of scale to achieve a sustainable business model in the required time.
Unclear Value Proposition The customers weren’t compelled enough by the product offering to become repeat users – did not address a need.
Insufficient Funding The available funding was not enough to see the company through to sustainable revenue.
Lack of Product Focus The company offered too many product or service types, or addressed too wide a geographic area, resulting in weak uptake.
Regulation The company did not comply with existing regulation or struggled to argue for regulation reform.
Market Readiness The company did not find an enthusiastic customer base because the concept was launched prematurely into the market.
Trust The company suffered a significant and damaging breach of trust in their communit.y
Invalidated Product Offering The company launched the offering successful, only to find that there was a limited or nonexistent market for it.
Lack of Community Engagement The company struggled to build a strong and engaged community around the business to support with viral growth.
Lack of Government Support Government was unwilling to work proactively to create an enabling environment for the company to operate in.
Poor User Experience The user experience was under-developed or caused major friction for consumers, resulting in loss of customers.
Competition The vertical being operated in was saturated, and the company did not offer a compelling point of difference.
Shift in Product Focus The company recognized a flaw in their original business model, resulting in a shift in focus, or pivot, for the product.
Shift in Target Market The company recognized a challenge in uptake from their target market, resulting in a shift in focus to a different market.
4
Key Reasons for Failure Explained

5. 24%
15%
14%
12%
10%
7%
4%
3%
3%
3%
2%
1%1%1% Scale
Unclear Value Proposition
Insufficient Funding
Lack of Product Focus
Regulation
Market Readiness
Trust
Invalidated Product Offering
Lack of Community Engagement
Lack of Government Support
Poor User Experience
Competition
Shift in Product Focus
Shift in Target Market
5
Predominance of Failure Issue

6. Most Common Reasons for Closure
26%
18%
18%
11%
9%
5%
3%
3%
3%
2%
2%
Scale
Unclear Value Proposition
Insufficient Funding
Lack of Product Focus
Market Readiness
Lack of Community Engagement
Poor User Experience
Regulation
Lack of Government Support
Competition
Trust

7. 7
33%
27%
13%
6%
7%
7%
7%
Scale
Insufficient Funding
Lack of Product Focus
Unclear Value Proposition
Market Readiness
Regulation
Shift in Product Focus
Most Common Reasons for Acquisition

8. 8
Most Common Reasons for Pivot
30%
30%
20%
10%
10%
Invalidated Product Offering
Lack of Product Focus
Unclear Value Proposition
Scale
Shift in Target Market

9. Most Common Reasons for PR Issues
9
56%
22%
11%
11%
Regulation
Trust
Lack of Government Support
Unclear Value Proposition