How Many Mulligans Does Color Get?

WARNING: mixed sports metaphors ahead. How many do-overs does a startup get before users give up on it for good? As far as I can remember, the answer is zero. I can't think of an example where a startup launched into the wild, flailed badly, and recovered (without completely abandoning the first product). There are lots of examples of flailing and relaunching (see Cuil, see Joost), but I can't think of anyone that managed to pull out a win. By my count Color, the $41 million startup that promises to "transform the way people communicate with each other," has already struck out. The first strike was a launch that left users confused, sharing photos with themselves and trying to figure out a user interface that seemed purposely designed to frustrate. We gave them another chance. Strike two: pulling the Android version of the app from the market.

brian regan josh hamilton jp morgan