// STARTUP COMPARISON
Redbooth Chile vs Hopin
Redbooth Chile failed in 2019 due to Competition. Hopin failed in 2023 due to Bad Timing. Different causes, different sectors, different eras — but the same simulation outcome.
| METRIC | 🔥 Redbooth Chile | 🔥 Hopin |
|---|---|---|
| Sector | SaaS | SaaS |
| Country | Chile | USA |
| Founded | 2012 | 2019 |
| Died | 2019 | 2023 |
| Raised | $30M | $1B |
| Peak | 5M users globally | $7.75B valuation |
| Primary Cause | Competition | Bad Timing |
// WHY EACH FAILED
🔥 Redbooth Chile
Competition
Redbooth (originally Teambox, founded in Barcelona with Chilean co-founders) grew to 5M global users. The product-market fit eroded as Slack captured real-time collaboration, Asana dominated task management, and Trello won visual boards. Redbooth was caught in the middle without a defensible position. The company was acquired by Planview in 2019 at a fraction of its peak valuation.
// LESSON
Being second in three categories is worse than being first in one. In collaboration tools, users choose the category winner in each paradigm, not the most feature-complete tool. Specialize or be acquired.
Being second in three categories is worse than being first in one. In collaboration tools, users choose the category winner in each paradigm, not the most feature-complete tool. Specialize or be acquired.
🔥 Hopin
Bad Timing
Hopin, a virtual events platform, raised $1B and reached $7.75B valuation during COVID when all events moved online. When in-person events returned in 2022, Hopin's core use case evaporated. The company sold its Events product to RingCentral in 2023 for approximately $15M — a 99.8% value destruction from its $7.75B peak. The founding CEO had already stepped down.
// LESSON
COVID-only use cases have COVID-only valuations. Hopin's $7.75B was pricing in a world where in-person events never returned. When building during a macro event, model the post-event scenario before setting valuation. A product that only works during a pandemic has a pandemic-length runway.
COVID-only use cases have COVID-only valuations. Hopin's $7.75B was pricing in a world where in-person events never returned. When building during a macro event, model the post-event scenario before setting valuation. A product that only works during a pandemic has a pandemic-length runway.
// EXPLORE FURTHER