Strategy

Quibi: $1.7B Later—How to Stop Digging In Digital Bets

Quibi: $1.7B Later—How to Stop Digging In Digital Bets

In 2020, Quibi launched with $1.7B from A-list investors and a game plan: create Hollywood-grade short videos for your phone, and take over mobile streaming. It shut down in 7 months, leaving a punchline where a unicorn was supposed to be.

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Walmart in Germany: When Scale Isn’t Enough

Walmart in Germany: When Scale Isn’t Enough

In the late 1990s, Walmart charged into Germany. Local grocers shrugged, unions sharpened their knives, and by 2006 the world’s largest retailer packed up, with $1B+ in cumulative losses. How could the company that conquered America get crushed abroad—even with unlimited firepower?

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Amazon in China: When Even the Best Need to Walk Away

Amazon in China: When Even the Best Need to Walk Away

Amazon’s global playbook has rewritten markets from Seattle to São Paulo. But in China—a $1 trillion e-commerce battlefield—it spent 15+ years losing ground. In 2019, Amazon finally shuttered its Chinese marketplace, conceding defeat to local champions Alibaba and JD.com. What really happened? And how can founders spot the signs before it’s too late to pivot or exit?

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