With the digital boom in full swing, new start-ups are popping up every day. Some of them will be the Googles of the future, and others will just leave us wondering “Why?” Let’s take a look back at some of the funniest ideas that led to companies that failed to make a splash…for obvious reasons.
- Loonie
Okay, be real, not all the people that you are friends with on Facebook are really your friends. Now, if that’s a very big problem for you, this is right up your alley. Because Loonie is a social network site for imaginary friends. That’s right, you can “friend” fictional characters like Bugs Bunny or Superman. Nerd alert.
- Honestly
This site was pitched as the “Yelp for people.” True. They were going to create a social forum so people could write reviews of one another.Talk about making the world a better place. The site was controversial even before it launched (big surprise). Still, it raised $1.2 million from investors. That said, when it finally did come out, reviewers dubbed it “2010’s worst start-up.”
- T.
This social network took after Twitter, but they shortened the character count… to 1. That’s right, you could text out a single character to your friends. Better make it a good one. Y?
- Funny Names
Some sites aren’t that wacky, but they do have weird names. Take Fairtilizer. This music company was founded as a way for independent artists to share and distribute music. Or Fashism, an app built to solicit fashion advice, or the best ever: oooooc.com, an online marketplace–the name is supposed to be pronounced FIVE-OC. I pronounce it OMG.
These businesses became findable for nefarious reasons. Your business is a little different—you need to be findable, for everything you do well. And one of the best ways to make that happen is by making sure your information is up to date on popular listing sites.
