“We made 70 shows. In 18 months, which is like more content than all of the major broadcast networks combined made in a single year.”
quote is from the automated transcript, cleaned for reading:
filler sounds and stutters are removed, nothing is rephrased. names can be misheard
(the analysis reads context, assessments check outside sources). how →
More from Tom Conrad
Opinion
Conrad: Tech industry would be much better off with fewer founders
“And I think in some ways our industry would be much better off if there were fewer founders. I think in some ways the, I use the entire category of smart, creative, hardworking, talented, you know, borderline visionary people who Can raise that two million dol…”
Tom ConradNov 26, 2023▶ 1:27:43Billion dollar failures, and billion dollar success | Tom Conrad (Quibi, Pandora, Pets.com, Zero)
Opinion
Pets.com failed because 80% of users were on dial-up, says Tom Conrad
“The critique that is often leveled at Pets.com, or at least at the time was like, this is just a stupid business. They're shipping dog food around. You could never make that work. And like that that's just wrong. Like you absolutely can make it work. Probably …”
Making Quibi successful would have required a $10 billion content library
“Pretty quickly became clear that the math was just wrong. It wasn't going to take two billion. It was going to take six or eight or ten billion. And the risk reward profile of betting ten billion on the format was just more than anyone can stomach.”
Conrad: Online pet supply delivery works, but dial-up timing doomed Pets.com
“The critique that is often leveled at Pets.com, or at least at the time was like, this is just a stupid business. They're shipping dog food around. You could never make that work. And like that that's just wrong. Like you absolutely can make it work. Probably …”
Tom ConradNov 26, 2023▶ 17:14Billion dollar failures, and billion dollar success | Tom Conrad (Quibi, Pandora, Pets.com, Zero)
AssertionPartly supported
Conrad: Pets.com did not go bankrupt and returned cash to investors
“We actually didn't go bankrupt. We shut the company down and returned the remaining balance to the investors, which no public company had ever done before.”
Tom ConradNov 26, 2023▶ 17:43Billion dollar failures, and billion dollar success | Tom Conrad (Quibi, Pandora, Pets.com, Zero)
Insight
Conrad: No amount of product execution can fix a broken business equation
“If the equation is fundamentally broken or a big swing in and of itself, no amount of like iteration and execution can like kind of get you out of the failed outputs of the broken equation.”
Tom ConradNov 26, 2023▶ 25:05Billion dollar failures, and billion dollar success | Tom Conrad (Quibi, Pandora, Pets.com, Zero)
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