Darling disruptors also need sound business models

Like Blue Apron, too few of Silicon Valley 'reimaginers' see clear path to profit

Blue Apron is a company that claims to have “reimagined the traditional grocery business model”. Thursday’s disappointing initial public offering makes you wonder if investors are losing faith in such “reimaginings”. Perhaps not, but it’s time to ask ourselves whether even some of Silicon Valley’s most vaunted attempts to rethink traditional business processes are sound, and what kind of future awaits them.
 
Marc Andreessen, the outspoken and successful venture capitalist, says there are “no bad ideas, only early ones”. The example he gives is Pets.com — the start-up that dared to sell pet supplies online and flopped famously in