The 10 most disappointing founders of 2015

[[161252]]

Editor's note: In this article, Steve Tobak summarizes the lessons learned from the failed projects that attracted much attention in the technology industry in 2015. I hope that startups and founders will learn from them and avoid repeating the same mistakes.

If you want to succeed in the business world, the biggest risk you face is that you get caught up in the hype and assume that running a successful company is easy. In reality, running a company is not easy. It is very challenging.

The best way to learn the truth is to experience it, or to see what works and doesn’t work in real life. Here’s a roundup of failed attempts in 2015 and the 10 entrepreneurs responsible for them.

10. Ryan Grepper, founder and CEO of Coolest Portable Refrigerator

In 2014, Coolest Cooler raised more than $13 million, becoming the second-highest project on Kickstarter. Today, Coolest is selling coolers on Amazon to fulfill its promise to investors. The good news is that the product is still available. The bad news is that its reviews are terrible, with 28% of people giving it a "one-star" rating because of its low product quality, poor support, and not being particularly cool.

9. Sean Rad, founder and CEO of Tinder, the American version of Momo

Following in the footsteps of American Apparel founder Dov Charney, Abercrombie founder Michael Jeffries, and Lululemon founder Chip Wilson, Rad has had his share of real problems, not to mention his habit of speaking without thinking that continues to cause trouble for parent company Match Group, especially now that Match Group has gone public.

8. 50 Cent, rapper and entrepreneur

Curtis James Jackson III, also known as 50 Cent, became rich through his record, clothing lines, and acting. He reportedly made $100 million from investing in a Vitamin Water company for Coca-Cola. Last year, he filed for bankruptcy protection. What happened? Financial irresponsibility, or overspending? Mind you, he wasn't really broke, but his use of the courts to defraud creditors of $28 million was really low-brow.

7. Ivan Reedman, co-founder and CEO of Torquing Group

A few months ago, Torquing Group raised $3.4 million, breaking the record for a European Kickstarter crowdfunding project, and the Zano drone maker went bankrupt, leaving 15,000 investors without their Zanos. Personally, I think investing in such high-risk projects is asking for trouble, but that’s just my opinion.

6. Dan Price, CEO of Gravity Payments

Price suddenly decided to raise the minimum annual salary for all 120 employees at the company by $70,000 over the next three years. This was a great story, but it doesn’t prove that this approach works. This approach rewards managers, and the increase in employee salaries will lead to the company’s bankruptcy. Worse, Bloomberg recently claimed that Price’s action may not be as beneficial to others as it seems.

5. Ellen Pao, former interim CEO of Reddit

Pao's interim management role at the popular social networking site was short-lived. In her eight-month stint, she only succeeded in doing one thing: proving she knew nothing about the site and nearly bringing down the entire Reddit community. Pao should have learned that the company was not hers and that she was supposed to serve her stakeholders.

4. Tony Hsieh, founder and CEO of Zappos

Tony Hsieh, who built Zappos, an online retailer, into $1 billion and sold it to Amazon, enjoys trying wacky management structures. Last year, he tried a controversial new management system called Holacracy, in which there were no managers and no titles. 14% of the employees quit, and the rest are still trying to figure out what their jobs are and how they're paid. It's a little maddening.

3. Gurbaksh Chahal, Founder and CEO, Gravity 4

Two domestic violence lawsuits; a particular act of suicide; being fired from the board of ad tech company RadiumOne on the eve of its planned IPO; the narcissistic entrepreneur being in the news for his arrest; sexism and sexual harassment; and drug charges. Need I go on?

2. Maren Kate Donovan, former CEO of Zirtual

Zirtual, a fast-growing virtual assistant startup, was doing well until it tried to convert hundreds of contract workers into full-time employees. However, this fate was predictable. Every CEO should instinctively think about the relationship between the company's business and finances.

1. Elizabeth Holmes, founder and CEO of Theranos

In October this year, Theranos was rated as the second most promising startup to change the world after Tesla by 101 Silicon Valley CEOs, investors and think tank members. Elizabeth Holmes is known as the second most promising startup to Steve Jobs and the youngest self-made female billionaire in the world. Elizabeth Holmes dropped out of Stanford at the age of 19 to start a company. Theranos raised $400 million and the company was valued at $9 billion. Ten years later, she conducted a huge public relations campaign. The Wall Street Journal's investigative report questioned the effectiveness and accuracy of its technology. The US health authorities were alarmed and began to investigate the violation of Theranos' blood test equipment. This may be the result of excessive publicity.

These 10 stories illustrate that entrepreneurs often face difficulties. I think they are all very smart and capable people, but it is very difficult to build a sustainable company for a long time. Never underestimate this challenge.