It is easy to believe that a great product is all it takes to succeed. Founders often pour their energy into perfecting their offering— be it a sleek app, a futuristic gadget, or a novel tech service. But history tells a different story: even the most innovative products can fail when they lack the support of strong corporate infrastructure.
Consider infamous case of WeWork—a brand that redefined coworking and captured global attention with its sleek, community-driven office spaces. The product resonated with freelancers, startups, and enterprise clients alike, fueling explosive growth and a peak valuation of $47 billion. But beneath the surface, the company suffered from a lack of financial discipline, poor governance, and a founder-centric culture that prioritized rapid expansion over sustainable strategy.
No company is “too big to fail” if infected by vicious “bad corporate”.
When WeWork attempted to go public, its flawed business model and erratic leadership were exposed, leading to a failed IPO and a dramatic collapse in valuation.
Then there’s BlackBerry, once a dominant force in mobile phones. Even with a superior product for business users, its inability to pivot quickly, paired with a slow-moving executive culture, led to a market share drop from 20% in 2009 to less than 1% within a few years.
Great company means effective governance system, legal compliance, financial planning, and investor relations. These functions propel products and good founders. They also soothe the last two, when stumbled.
For these reasons, investors usually assess the entire company. They look for a competent management team, robust legal and financial systems, and clear communication strategies. Without these elements, a company may struggle to gain investor confidence, regardless of how innovative its product may be.
At Vault, we specialize in helping founders and investors build the necessary infrastructure to turn great product into a great company. From establishing solid finance and legal team to dealing with investor relationships, or supporting them with our extensive network, we help ensure that innovative products are supported by equally strong companies, built to last.