Meerkat
The business, the turning points, and the decisions behind them.
01 / WHAT IT BUILT
What the company did
Meerkat was a live-video-streaming mobile app developed by Life On Air, Inc., led by founder and CEO Ben Rubin. Launched in February 2015, it let users broadcast live video from their phones to followers on Twitter and Facebook, and became the breakout star of SXSW 2015 after its Product Hunt debut. The company raised $12 million in venture capital from Greylock Partners in March 2015. On September 30, 2016 the team pulled Meerkat from the app stores; the app was fully shut down on October 4, 2016 and replaced by the group's new app, Houseparty.
02 / Meerkat FAILURE REASONS
Failure reasons
Meerkat died because it was beaten at its own game by platform giants. Just as it peaked, Twitter cut off Meerkat's access to its social graph and poured resources into its own Periscope, while Facebook launched Facebook Live - and one-to-many broadcasting never became a daily habit. Six months after launch, co-founder Ben Rubin concluded the broadcast category was too far from the everyday user and redirected the team to group video chat; that pivot became Houseparty, which gained nearly a million users while Meerkat was being wound down.
03 / EVENT HISTORY
Events in the structured record
- Launched
Meerkat launched in February 2015 and became the breakout star of SXSW; the company raised $12 million from Greylock Partners in March 2015.
- Crushed by platforms
Twitter restricted Meerkat's social-graph access and backed Periscope; Facebook launched Facebook Live; broadcasting failed to become a daily habit.
- Pivot
Six months after launch, the team decided to change direction toward group video chat, building Houseparty in secret.
- Shutdown
On September 30, 2016 Meerkat was pulled from the App Store; all services stopped on October 4, 2016 and the website redirected to Houseparty.
04 / CONTEMPORARY REBUILD ASSESSMENT
Difficulty of rebuilding this project today
Material for this section is being gathered and checked. It will appear here once ready.
Overall assessment: Not completed
05 / CAUSAL CHAIN
How the factors connect
- 01
Developed by Life On Air, Inc. (Ben Rubin); launched February 2015; live video streaming.
- 02
$12M raised from Greylock Partners, March 2015.
- 03
Breakout star of SXSW 2015 via Product Hunt debut.
- 04
Twitter cut social-graph access; Periscope and Facebook Live out-competed it.
- 05
Broadcasting never became a daily habit; creators left for rival platforms.
- 06
Team pivoted to Houseparty (group video chat) ~6 months after launch.
- 07
Pulled from app stores Sept 30, 2016; shut down Oct 4, 2016.
- 08
No reliable loss figure disclosed; funding amounts are not losses.