Latest news with #Blip
Mint
2 days ago
- Business
- Mint
Made tough choice to close fast-fashion delivery startup Blip: Co-founder Ansh Agarwal
New Delhi, Jul 13 (PTI) Bengaluru-based startup Blip, which was into fast fashion delivery, has been shut down, co-founder Ansh Agarwal said in a LinkedIn post, citing limited capital and go-to-market challenges. Blip offered 30-minute doorstep delivery of the latest fashion apparel and accessories in Bengaluru, and its closure highlights the broader strain on early-stage innovation for startups, as they face harsh funding realities, despite promising growth narratives of the quick commerce space. In the backdrop of cautious investor sentiments and fierce competition, new ventures, overall, struggle to scale up and face operational challenges within the country's evolving startup ecosystem. Among the prominent startups that have shut down over the last one year are Koo, touted as an Indian replica of Twitter, now X (that blamed failed attempts at partnerships and harsh funding winter for its closure), and Nithin Kamath-backed edtech Stoa School. "Update: We are shutting down Blip after building for over a year. We have finally called it a day. While we continue to believe in this space, bootstrapping the business with limited capital made it extremely difficult for us to participate in the market," Agarwal wrote in a post. The Blip model, being different from the rest, did a lot of first-in-market implementations that took its own time to convince stakeholders. It affected a go-to-market strategy and "slowed things considerably down for us", he said. "The result of limited working capital and failure to implement our go-to-market in an efficient manner, it didn't make sense for us to continue, and hence, we had to make a difficult choice to shut blip down," he said. Agarwal conceded that he personally continues to believe in the space and understands the need for verticalisation of quick-commerce in general. "Sadly, it won't be us. I am extremely proud of what we did at blip. Being first in the market and changing the narratives with the resources we had kept me awake at night, but it was all worth it," he further said. Thanking co-founder Sarvesh Kedia, Agarwal said he couldn't have asked for a better partner, one who could take anything thrown at him, with rigour.
Time of India
3 days ago
- Business
- Time of India
Quick fashion delivery startup Blip shuts down in less than a year
Ansh Agarwal, cofounder of quick fashion delivery startup Blip , announced that the company has shut down operations less than a year after launch. This has come when the rapid ecommerce space, particularly in the fashion segment has seen backing from venture capital firms as well as foray of larger a LinkedIn post, Agarwal wrote, 'After building for over a year, we've finally called it a day. While we still believe in this space, bootstrapping with limited capital made it incredibly hard to compete.'Blip had taken a differentiated approach with several 'first-in-market implementations', he said, adding that this came with challenges — particularly around convincing stakeholders, which slowed their go-to-market efforts.'With limited working capital and an inefficient GTM (go-to-market) execution, continuing didn't make sense,' Agarwal said. 'We had to make the tough call to shut Blip down.'The closure comes even as quick fashion delivery is gaining momentum and investor interest . As ET reported last month, brands like Newme, Slikk, and Blip, along with platforms such as Myntra , Ajio, and Nykaa , are experimenting with ultra-fast fashion delivery models. In May, Bengaluru-based 60-minute fashion delivery startup Slikk raised $10 million from Nexus Venture Partners and Dungarwal, founder of fashion brand Snitch , said while quick delivery sparked early interest through platforms like M-Now, Slikk, and Knot, most consumers still gravitate toward wardrobe staples. 'We've done polls with users, and most said they don't buy clothes last-minute unless there's a sudden plan or urgent need,' he Blip's shutdown, Agarwal remains bullish on the category. 'I still believe in the space and the need to verticalise quick commerce — just not through us,' he said.
Yahoo
08-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
'Success Is Not Guaranteed' — Biographer Keach Hagey Says Sam Altman's Future At OpenAI Hangs On A Deal-Maker's Luck And Instability
"Success is not guaranteed," Wall Street Journal reporter Keach Hagey told TechCrunch in an interview last month. Her recently released biography, "The Optimist," tracks Sam Altman from St. Louis coder to OpenAI CEO. Hagey warned that Altman's fate depends on "a deal-maker's luck" after a board revolt showed how fragile OpenAI's nonprofit-over-for-profit structure remains. Altman learned to code at age 8 and co-founded the location app Loopt in 2005, selling it for $43.4 million in 2012. He later became president of startup accelerator Y Combinator in 2014, after serving as a part-time partner. While Airbnb (NASDAQ:ABNB) and Stripe had already gone through YC before his presidency, he continued to support startups during their later stages of growth. Don't Miss: Warren Buffett once said, "If you don't find a way to make money while you sleep, you will work until you die." $100k+ in investable assets? – no cost, no obligation. In 2015, Altman co-founded OpenAI as a nonprofit aiming to build safe artificial general intelligence. The lab added a capped-profit arm in 2019 so investors could earn up to 100%, according to Microsoft's 2023 investment blog. That deal opened a $13 billion pipeline to Microsoft Azure. Hagey said Altman's "once-in-a-generation storytelling" powers kept money flowing while he chased bold research goals. On Nov. 17, 2023, the board removed Altman for not being "consistently candid," an OpenAI blog post stated. Within two days, more than 500 employees co-signed a letter threatening to join Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) unless the directors resigned, according to a leaked copy on X. By Nov. 20, 2023 the tally hit 700 signatures, pressuring directors to reverse the firing. Trending: The secret weapon in billionaire investor portfolios that you almost certainly don't own yet. Altman returned as CEO on Nov. 29, 2023 and a new three-member board — Chair Bret Taylor, former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers, and Adam D'Angelo — took charge, the same blog post confirmed. A later review ordered by a special committee found no wrongdoing but urged clearer governance. Hagey calls the five-day drama "the Blip," saying it proved staff loyalty rests more with Altman's deal skills than the nonprofit mission. OpenAI now plans to shift its for-profit arm into a public benefit corporation while keeping nonprofit control, an OpenAI structure post reported on May 5. Board chair Taylor said the move balances mission and money. However, the structural change must still be approved by legal authorities in California and Delaware before new investments can flow. Meanwhile, Altman is securing global capacity. On May 22, Abu Dhabi firm G42 announced Stargate UAE, a 1-gigawatt data center that OpenAI and Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) will run. Oracle said the company would supply extra cloud power and Nvidia (NVIDIA: NVDA) chips for OpenAI's U.S. builds. Hagey warned, "Investors will pause until governance and capital match," but she added that Altman "might be up to the challenge." Read Next: Over the last five years, the price of gold has increased by approximately 83% — Investors like Bill O'Reilly and Rudy Giuliani are using this platform to Image: Shutterstock UNLOCKED: 5 NEW TRADES EVERY WEEK. Click now to get top trade ideas daily, plus unlimited access to cutting-edge tools and strategies to gain an edge in the markets. Get the latest stock analysis from Benzinga? APPLE (AAPL): Free Stock Analysis Report TESLA (TSLA): Free Stock Analysis Report This article 'Success Is Not Guaranteed' — Biographer Keach Hagey Says Sam Altman's Future At OpenAI Hangs On A Deal-Maker's Luck And Instability originally appeared on © 2025 Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. Sign in to access your portfolio
