// STARTUP COMPARISON
Chekout vs LendingClub (2016 crisis)
Chekout failed in 2022 due to Competition. LendingClub (2016 crisis) failed in 2016 due to Founder Chaos. Different causes, different sectors, different eras — but the same simulation outcome.
| METRIC | 🔥 Chekout | 🔥 LendingClub (2016 crisis) |
|---|---|---|
| Sector | Fintech | Fintech |
| Country | Chile | USA |
| Founded | 2019 | 2006 |
| Died | 2022 | 2016 |
| Raised | $12M | $1.3B |
| Peak | $12M raised | $9B valuation |
| Primary Cause | Competition | Founder Chaos |
// WHY EACH FAILED
🔥 Chekout
Competition
Chekout built a buy-now-pay-later checkout solution for Chilean e-commerce merchants. After raising $12M, MercadoLibre's Mercado Crédito launched BNPL functionality embedded directly into MercadoLibre's marketplace — where most Chilean e-commerce happens. Simultaneously Falabella launched CMR Cuotas for its marketplace. Chekout's addressable market collapsed to independent stores without marketplace presence. Unable to raise a Series B, it shut down in 2022.
// LESSON
BNPL for e-commerce is dependent on where e-commerce happens. In markets where one marketplace controls 60%+ of volume, when that marketplace integrates BNPL natively, your TAM shrinks to 40% overnight. Build for that scenario from day one.
BNPL for e-commerce is dependent on where e-commerce happens. In markets where one marketplace controls 60%+ of volume, when that marketplace integrates BNPL natively, your TAM shrinks to 40% overnight. Build for that scenario from day one.
🔥 LendingClub (2016 crisis)
Founder Chaos
LendingClub CEO Renaud Laplanche resigned in May 2016 after an internal review found that $22M in loans had been sold to an investor with falsified application dates, and that Laplanche had failed to disclose a personal conflict of interest. The stock fell 50% in a single day. LendingClub survived but spent years rebuilding institutional trust.
// LESSON
For marketplace lenders, loan data integrity is the product. Falsifying origination dates is not a compliance technicality — it invalidates every institutional investor's credit risk model and destroys the trust that marketplace lending is built on.
For marketplace lenders, loan data integrity is the product. Falsifying origination dates is not a compliance technicality — it invalidates every institutional investor's credit risk model and destroys the trust that marketplace lending is built on.
// EXPLORE FURTHER