Clark’s Graveyard

From three-wheeled cars to $9 airline tickets, small-business men and women are always coming up with great ideas about how to do something different, better, or cheaper. But their ideas don’t always find a spot in the marketplace, and so the world of entrepreneurship is fraught with the danger of failure.

But failure doesn’t make a good idea any less of a good idea.

Here’s a partial list of promising websites and services that I’ve mentioned over the years that went bust and ended up in my graveyard. Each one has its own special place in my heart. May they all rest in peace....

SaysMe.tv—Exact date of death unknown, but believed to be early 2011
Targeted TV ads had traditionally been too expensive for small business owners to buy . . . until a website called SaysMe.tv leveled the playing field. SaysMe made a business out of buying unloved ad inventory at a fraction of the regular cost and selling it to individuals.
When I checked rates in late 2010, buying an ad spot through Says Me on MTV in the Raleigh, North Carolina, market at 4:00 p.m., for example, cost just north of $180. If you wanted to run your ad before 4:00 p.m., the asking price dropped to a little more than $90 because your target audience was still at school. In smaller markets, you might have been able to get a non-peak ad slot for $20 or $30!
I thought this idea was so great I originally included it in the manuscript of the book you’re reading. But my dutiful editors pointed out to me that SaysMe became a corpse sometime in early 2011, while Living Large in Lean Times was in production!
 
Wesabe.comDied July 2010
Much like its more popular competitor Mint.com, Wesabe.com offered free online budgeting tools. You gave Wesabe access to all your accounts and it automatically tracked your spending. The unique name apparently derived from saber, the Spanish word for “to know,” because the goal was to empower consumers with insight into their spending habits. In a good-bye message to users, the company cited lack of funding and poor customer service stemming from understaffing as reasons it went bust.
 
Venjuvo.com—Died August 2009
This early “cash for old gadgets” venture offered an online trade-in center that paid you for your pre-owned electronics—everything from cell phones, MP3 players, computers, and cameras to GPS systems and gaming consoles. Shipping was prepaid on the company’s dime and users typically received their payment in three business days ... until the service went kaput.
 
JetAmerica.com—Died July 2009
This promising hard discounter was modeled on successful European companies like Ryanair and easyJet. Jet America announced in May 2009 that they’d be offering nine seats for $9 on every flight, with the fares stepping up from there. The plan was to start with one single aircraft per route and add more over time to avoid the risk of growing too quickly. Unfortunately, they never even made it off the ground for their virgin flight.
 
SpiralFrog.com—Died March 2009
This site offered free ad-supported music downloads from major label partners such as Universal and EMI. After launching in 2006, SpiralFrog was rumored to have burned through more than $40 million in capital. In addition, some said the service’s support of digital rights management—an unpopular restriction that forbids you from taking your music across platforms from one device to another—also helped seal its fate.
MyRichUncle.com—Died February 2009
This student loan website analyzed factors like GPA, desired field of study, and the school you were planning on attending to make merit-based loans to students with little or no credit history. But it eventually had to cry “uncle” in the marketplace!
 
ZOOTS—Died April 2008
This high-volume dry cleaner failed after finding out just how difficult it is to crack what traditionally has been a mom-and-pop industry. Among the features ZOOTS offered were twenty-four-hour service, easy online scheduling, and pickup/delivery. The company is being disassembled piecemeal, so you might still see select locations with the ZOOTS name from time to time.
 
Eos Airlines—Died April 27, 2008
The collapse of this all-business-class carrier with service between New York’s JFK and London’s Stansted Airport came as a surprise. “[It is] particularly regrettable since we have achieved so much, including having a term sheet in hand for additional financing,” the airline’s website revealed before going permanently offline. The company’s advertising tagline was “Uncrowded. Uncompromising. Unairline.” Well, they sure got the last one right!
 
Skybus Airlines—Died April 5, 2008
Modeled on Europe’s popular Ryanair, Skybus initially launched in May 2007 with one-way fares starting at $10. Skybus ultimately would serve seventeen U.S. destinations before the high price of jet fuel and the slowing economy clipped its wings.
 
Steve and Barry’s—Died November 2008
This innovative retailer offered private designer lines at the cheapest prices possible. Most of everything Steve and Barry’s sold was around the $10 price point—and that included clothing and shoes branded by tennis player Venus Williams, actress Sarah Jessica Parker, and others. Steve and Barry’s Starbury sneakers—the signature shoe from NBA player Stephon Marbury—sold for a mere $14.98. Compare that to upward of $200 for a pair of Air Jordans! But apparently it was the retailer’s cheap prices that drove it out of business.
 
SunRocket Internet Phone Service—Died July 2007
I was a big fan of SunRocket, a company that offered some of the best deals out there on VoIP service. But people who signed up were not, because they paid up front and, when the company closed, lost all their money. And that included me!
 
Automatic vending machines—Died November 2003
I first saw these machines in Europe and Asia, and they were later installed in Washington, D.C. Items in these huge vending machines built into a wall were much cheaper than in regular convenience stores because there was no need for labor. But apparently it didn’t work in the States!
 
MyFreeCar.com—Exact date of death unknown
This is just one of several car-wrapping websites that have gone under. These companies paid drivers up to $400 each month just to drive around with advertising on their vehicles. Others that have gone by the wayside are FreeMedia.com, UDrive 4Cash.com, and CarWrap.com.
 
AllAdvantage.com—Died February 2001
This was a free Internet service that actually paid customers who agreed to view advertising as they searched the Web. For a brief period, I was receiving $12.50 per month. What a great idea it was!
 
Freeway—Died February 2001
This once-famed long distance service offered up to two free hours of long distance calling per month in return for listening to ads. Customers had to listen to brief commercials for two free minutes of calls. Now with cell phones, of course, hardly anybody pays for long distance anymore!
Virgin Connect Me—Died November 2000
This easy-to-use device offered free Internet access and e-mail service for one year. My wife and a couple of the staffers on my radio show all took advantage of the free device, which was initially offered to only 10,000 qualifying applicants. They all had to send the device back, however, when the company died.
 
HM Vehicles Freeway—Died July 1982
Back in 1980, I bought a three-wheeled car called the Freeway—no relation to the doomed long-distance service of the same name. This unique vehicle was a true Fred Flintstone putt-putt mobile; it got one hundred miles per gallon on a twelve-horsepower Tecumseh farm engine and had no reverse gear. Once I accelerated too quickly on a highway and the front lifted straight off the ground! Sadly, the last I saw of my Freeway was when I had it hauled off with a tree growing out of it.