News that Jawbone is to be liquidated might lead one to conclude that its life as a wearables business is over. But as the article by The Information, which originally reported this story, notes, founder Hosain Rahman hasn’t given up on the consumer wellness space altogether and the business will be reborn as a health IT and device business called Jawbone Health. Predictably, this has spawned a wide range of reactions.
Erin Griffith, author of Fortune’s Term Sheet, focused on Rahman’s tenacity and refusal to quit, albeit one she had the prescience to develop a year ago.
The company has achieved many impressive feats in its 17 years of existence. It has raised hundreds of millions of dollars in funding, something very few companies do, and it created and launched a number of successful consumer products, including the Jambox wireless speaker, its namesake wireless Bluetooth headsets, and the Up fitness band. But in recent years the “can’t-miss” company has struggled with product delays; executive reshufflings; increased
competition from Apple and Fitbit, costly lawsuits with its supplier, and Fitbit; and a down round that cut the company’s valuation in half. From the outside, it all adds up to an ugly picture.
Plenty of people close to founder and CEO Hosain Rahman have probably advised him to give up and make a graceful exit. Instead, his company continues to fight for its life. It’s the sort of thing that shows Rahman’s determination: If Jawbone fails, it won’t be because he gave up.
SOURCE/LINK:
https://medcitynews.com/2017/07/report-goodbye-jawbone-hello-jawbone-health-heres-make/