Failure Analysis
Fast died from a catastrophic mismatch between burn rate and business model viability. The company spent $10 million per month while generating negligible revenue—a...
Fast \USA
Fast promised to eliminate checkout friction entirely with a universal one-click checkout button that worked across any e-commerce site. The value proposition was visceral: consumers hated filling out forms, merchants lost billions to cart abandonment, and Fast would solve both with a single integration. The psychological hook was Apple Pay-level convenience without Apple's walled garden—a democratized, universal solution that any merchant could plug in. It tapped into the zeitgeist of frictionless commerce and the belief that whoever owned checkout owned the future of online retail.
Discover the reason behind the shutdown and the market before & today
Market Analysis
The checkout optimization market in 2024 is mature and consolidated. Stripe dominates developer-first e-commerce with Link (their one-click solution), Shop Pay has 100M+ users...
Startup Learnings
Unit economics must be proven before scaling, not assumed to improve with scale. Fast's fatal error was spending $10M/month while losing money on every...
Market Potential
The checkout optimization market has been thoroughly colonized. Stripe owns developer mindshare, Shop Pay has Shopify's distribution, PayPal has consumer trust, and Apple/Google Pay...
Difficulty
The technical infrastructure to build one-click checkout is now commoditized. Stripe, Shop Pay, PayPal, and even native browser autofill have solved the UX problem....
Scalability
Fast's model had inverse scalability: the more it grew, the worse the economics became. Each transaction required payment processing fees, fraud liability, customer acquisition...
Rebuild & monetization strategy: Resurrect the company
Execution Plan
Phase 2
Partner with 2-3 high-risk payment processors to negotiate volume-based rate reductions in exchange for aggregated flow
Phase 3
Launch with 10 CBD or supplement brands, offering 30-day free trial and guaranteed cost savings vs. their current processor
Phase 4
Build category-specific fraud models using transaction data from initial cohort to reduce chargeback rates below industry average
Phase 5
Create compliance dashboard showing real-time transaction risk scores, flagged orders, and audit trails for regulatory review
Monetization Strategy
Transaction fees: 3.5% + $0.30 per successful transaction (vs. 5-8% merchants currently pay). SaaS tier for advanced features: $299/month for fraud analytics dashboard, $499/month for compliance automation tools, $999/month for dedicated account management and custom underwriting. Target $50K MRR within 12 months by signing 30 merchants averaging $200K/month GMV each, generating $210K in monthly transaction fees plus $15K in SaaS revenue. Path to profitability at $2M ARR with 60% gross margins after processor costs.
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CAUSE OF DEATH
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THE VALUE PROPOSITION
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CAUSE OF DEATH
Unsustainable unit economics in a hyper-competitive market with aggressive customer acquisition costs and thin margins.
Rise
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2025
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