8 Most Infamous Tech IPO Failures


Pets.com

Pets.com is credited with one of the biggest internet flops of the Dot-Com era. The company which sold pet supplies to the retail customers began its operations in 1998. It instantly became a hit with a high profile marketing campaign featuring its sock puppet spokesdog. The company was able to get a widely recognized public appearance which attracted the investors to its February 200 IPO, which was backed by Amazon. The company was able to raise $82.5 million before collapsing nine months later.

One of the main reasons for its failures was the extensive amount it spent on aggressive advertising. Although sales rose dramatically due to the attention, the company was weak on fundamentals and actually lost money on every item it sold. After the continuous margin loss over three quarters, the company vanished along with $300 million of investment capital.