Episode 12
The grocery company that hit its targets
Thornwell, with K.A.
unit economicsseedconsumer$4.1m
0:00 / 68 min
“Month nineteen. We hit our delivery target for the first time and the contribution margin got worse.”
THE COMPANY DIED.
THE FOUNDER TALKS.
Unfinished Business is a weekly interview with a founder whose company did not make it. One company, one full autopsy, and the same three questions every time. There is no redemption arc at the end unless there was one.
Episode 12 out now. New episode every Tuesday.
Three questions, every time.
“Month nineteen. We hit our delivery target for the first time and the contribution margin got worse. I remember doing the maths twice.”
“Month four. I knew in month four. I carried on for another twenty-six because the team had stopped asking and I did not want them to start.”
“I am not sure I ever did. The product worked. I still think we were right and early, and I know how that sounds.”
“A term sheet that took four months to not arrive, and about forty people who had moved cities for us.”
“The data partner kept saying the renewal was a formality. We built eighteen months of roadmap on a formality.”
“Three buyers who said yes in every meeting and never placed an order. Polite people are the most expensive customers you will have.”
“If anyone had made me write down what had to be true for this to work. Nobody asks you that. They ask how growth is going.”
“A shareholder agreement we had actually read. We were friends, so we skipped the part about what happens when you stop being friends.”
“Nothing. I would make the same call with the same information. The regulator moved the date, not us.”
After a hundred episodes this is the only dataset of its kind on the hardest decision in the job. Nobody in startup media asks this question on the record, which is why nobody can answer it.
Why they actually died.
12 episodes. $61.4m raised across them, one figure undisclosed.
12 of 12 episodes. No filters.
| Ep | Company | Cause | Stage | Sector | Raised | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12 | Thornwell | RunwayUnit economics never closed | Seed | Consumer | $4.1m | 68 min |
| 11 | Sightline | Platform riskTheir data partner cut them off | Series A | Insurtech | $11m | 72 min |
| 10 | Marrow | Co-founderCo-founder split | Seed | Hospitality tech | $2.3m | 81 min |
| 09 | Offcut | No market needThe buyers existed and would not switch | Pre-seed | Marketplace | $600k | 64 min |
| 08 | Pellhurst Labs | RegulatoryRan out of runway during a regulatory delay | Series A | Health | $14m | 77 min |
| 07 | Off the Record | RunwayInvestor dispute, ongoing | Series B | Fintech | Undisclosed | 59 min |
| 06 | Fernmoor | RunwayBridge round fell through | Series A | Logistics | $12.4m | 70 min |
| 05 | Cartwheel | Platform riskHost platform changed its terms | Series A | Creator tools | $9.5m | 66 min |
| 04 | Pinfold | Co-founderDisagreement over direction | Seed | Edtech | $1.8m | 74 min |
| 03 | Quayside | RunwaySales cycles outlasted the cash | Seed | Climate | $3.2m | 62 min |
| 02 | Tallis | No market needInterest that never became intent | Pre-seed | Proptech | $1.6m | 57 min |
| 01 | Halden | No market needA spreadsheet was good enough | Pre-seed | B2B SaaS | $900k | 58 min |
- Thornwellep 12RunwaySeedConsumer$4.1m68 min
- Sightlineep 11Platform riskSeries AInsurtech$11m72 min
- Marrowep 10Co-founderSeedHospitality tech$2.3m81 min
- Offcutep 9No market needPre-seedMarketplace$600k64 min
- Pellhurst Labsep 8RegulatorySeries AHealth$14m77 min
- Off the Recordep 7RunwaySeries BFintechUndisclosed59 min
- Fernmoorep 6RunwaySeries ALogistics$12.4m70 min
- Cartwheelep 5Platform riskSeries ACreator tools$9.5m66 min
- Pinfoldep 4Co-founderSeedEdtech$1.8m74 min
- Quaysideep 3RunwaySeedClimate$3.2m62 min
- Tallisep 2No market needPre-seedProptech$1.6m57 min
- Haldenep 1No market needPre-seedB2B SaaS$900k58 min
By cause
- Runway4
- No market need3
- Co-founder2
- Platform risk2
- Regulatory1
Every episode is tagged the same way. Filter it, and you are reading the closest thing anyone has to a structured account of why companies fail, told by the people who were there.
The ones they cannot put their name to.
Some of the most useful stories cannot be told on the record. Ongoing litigation, an investor who is still in the industry, a co-founder who has moved on and would rather not revisit it. Off the Record episodes are voice-masked and the company is not named. Everything else is the same, including the three questions.
Masked, not anonymous to us. Every guest is verified and every claim is checked before it goes out.
Episode 07Voice-masked
A fintech. Name withheld.
investor disputeseries bfintechundisclosed59 min
Episodes.
- 12Unfinished Business
Thornwell
68 minInstant grocery delivery in secondary cities.
unit economics never closed - 11Unfinished Business
Sightline
72 minAI-assisted site inspections for insurers.
their data partner cut them off - 10Unfinished Business
Marrow
81 minA restaurant operations app.
co-founder split - 09Unfinished Business
Offcut
64 minMarketplace for surplus construction materials.
the buyers existed and would not switch - 08Unfinished Business
Pellhurst Labs
77 minDiagnostics hardware.
ran out of runway during a regulatory delay - Off the record07
Off the Record
59 minA fintech. Company name withheld.
investor dispute, ongoingvoice-masked
No redemption arc.
Most founder interviews are conducted with someone who succeeded, which means the lessons are reverse-engineered from a good outcome. This show talks to the other ones. Some of the guests have started something else. Some have gone back to a job they like more. Some are still angry. We do not tidy the endings.
“If anyone had made me write down what had to be true for this to work.”
Start with episode 12.
Sixty-eight minutes on a grocery company that hit every target it set and died anyway.