Quibi is sadly shutting down six months after launch (it's not about timing)

Calling it quiti... Quibi, short for "quick bites," is shutting down just six months after launching. The video startup raised a gargantuan $1.75B before debuting in April — now it's quitting to avoid losing investors any more money. In the likely chance you never downloaded it: Quibi is (was?) a mobile-only short video streamer (~8-minute episodes). It drummed up massive hype for three reasons:

• Major backers: With DreamWorks founder Jeff Katzenberg and former HP CEO Meg Whitman at the helm, Quibi got mega bucks from investors like Disney and Comcast.
• Big stars: Quibi splurged on HBO-level production quality shows and big names like Liam Hemsworth, Reese Witherspoon, and Chrissy Teigen.
• Cool tech: Quibi's "Turnstyle" feature lets you seamlessly switch between horizontal and vertical viewing (but it got sued for that).

No "Quibi and Quaker Oats"... Quibi was made for "in-between" moments. But we're not subway-and-Quibi'ing since the pandemic killed commutes — we're also not Quibi-ing while nuking oatmeal during WFH. Quibi missed paid subscriber targets, and reportedly lost 90% of early users after kindly sending a "your trial is expiring" email (#bless).