10 Web 2.0 Ideas that Failed

Lesson Learned: Sometimes it takes awhile for a good idea to become a strong company. Though the idea might be ahead of its time, stick with it and bring people to the team that have a passionate interest in the project.

Money Can't Save Everyone
Akimbo, which once raised $56 million in funding from sponsors like Cisco Systems and AT&T, launched in 2002 as a hardware-based video-on-demand (VOD) business. The site allowed members (with a subscription service) to choose programs and download them over a broadband connection, either to a computer or to a TiVo-like box. In a last ditch effort, the company was re-branded as a media center rather than a hardware-based company in February, but management problems at the top brought the VOD provider down soon after. Thomas Frank replaced founder Josh Goldman as CEO of the company, and rumors circled that Frank had a less-than-warm reception. As of May 23, the entire staff had been laid off except for three to wrap-up the company collapse. Many insiders were stunned by the rapid closure, considering the amount of fundraising Akimbo drew in and the site's potential. But with the brand and management changes, it was hard for consumers to even connect with the company or understand what it was about.

Lesson Learned: Even lots of revenue and sponsorships can't save your company if it isn't properly managed and branded.

Get Off the Couch
Like a Google Maps for television listings, Couchville attempted to make program listings as easy as to navigate as possible. All a user had to do was enter their zip code and cable service provider and the listings for their area appeared. Viewers could drag the page up and down, left and right to scroll through listings, and a vertical red line sat on top of the current time listings. And the service was free. Simple and effective, yes, but it’s also pretty easy to find out what's playing by switching to the channel with the TV's guide function or by visiting TVGuide.com, which already has the brand and name recognition. Besides, there are other services that offer innovations such as video previews.

Lesson Learned: Ease of use doesn't always mean a product is necessary.

Phony Loopholes
Who needs a landline when you have a cell phone? Well a cell phone can’t do everything, and it’s certainly costly to make international calls from one. Yak4Ever, once called AllFreeCalls, was resurrected in May after being shut down in February by its rural service provider. Thanks to a loophole in Iowa telephony law that allowed the company to provide free international calls, users only had to dial AllFreeCalls, punch in the international number they wanted to reach for a completely free international conversation. But the Iowa-based companies, including Great Lakes Communication Corp. and the Superior Telephone Cooperative, shut AllFreeCalls down after reported pressure from larger telecom companies, who by FCC law had to pay for the international calls because of the Universal Service Fund. Yak4Ever was essentially the same with a new rural operator except the user had to register international phone numbers with the company prior to making any calls. Who has time for that?

Lesson Learned: A business can't survive on a government loophole.

Streaming Failure
Sonific was a streaming music widget that enabled users to embed free, licensed music onto their blogs and social network profile pages that didn't necessarily support or offer music widgets. Yet due to the constraints imposed by the music industry with its limited and expensive licenses, and demand for free company equity in Sonific, the company was unable to sustain itself. Prior to Sonific's shutdown, co-founder and CEO Gerd Leonhard said in a statement that the company didn't want to take the copyright infringement route in order to stay afloat.

Lesson Learned: Before you get into the online music streaming business, you have to have your partnerships in place.