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Wag从软银融资3亿美元扩张遛狗业务，随后份额被Rover夺走
Wag于2018年从软银愿景基金获得3亿美元，试图主导遛狗市场；到2019年底，该公司裁员并失去市场份额，输给了Rover。
Wag
做的是什么生意
An on-demand dog-walking marketplace that matches pet owners with vetted local walkers working as independent contractors, taking a cut of 30- or 60-minute walks and 20-minute check-ins booked through an app.
启动资金：$300M from SoftBank's Vision Fund, announced in January 2018; CNN cites the Prime Unicorn Index putting Wag's valuation above $600M after the round.
起因
Wag was launched in 2015, at the height of the on-demand boom, by brothers Joshua and Jonathan Viner with Jason Meltzer, who had run a traditional dog-walking business. Jonathan traced the idea to Josh, who was told he was too busy for a dog and wanted an app that was 'a button on the phone for dogs.' Celebrity backers included Mariah Carey and investor Olivia Munn; by the January 2018 SoftBank deal, Wag operated in 100 US cities.
经过
In January 2018 Wag announced the $300M investment from SoftBank's Vision Fund and installed veteran CEO Hilary Schneider, previously of LifeLock and Yahoo. The Viner brothers departed about six months later; former employees describe Schneider cutting marketing, a Philippines call center that upset customers, customer service moving to Phoenix, and the Hollywood Hills hub closing, with at least 92 Los Angeles layoffs in 2019 per California filings. Wag's market share fell from nearly 23% in Q1 2018 to about 16% by September 2019 as Rover grew; Second Measure data put Wag sales down nearly 12% year over year in Q2 2019. At least five public incidents of dogs abused or dying in Wag's care surfaced over the previous year, and the global expansion SoftBank's partner had promised never happened — Wag added only 10 US cities.
结果
As of CNN's report on 2019-09-27, Wag was still operating but diminished: layoffs, management churn, market share down to about 16%, declining walk volume and no global expansion — the $300M had not produced the rocket-ship growth SoftBank and Wag's founders expected.
背景
Wag是2015年在洛杉矶由兄弟Joshua和Jonathan Viner与Jason Meltzer创立的按需遛狗市场，遵循Uber模式：宠物主人召唤经过审查的本地遛狗人，通过应用支付，遛狗人作为独立承包商。创始人的赌注是“狗狗的手机按钮”可以将按需经济应用于宠物护理。
2018年1月，Wag宣布获得软银愿景基金3亿美元投资，资深高管Hilary Schneider担任CEO。该轮融资将Wag估值推至超6亿美元，软银的Jeffrey Housenbold称Wag是快速增长的全球宠物服务市场中的清晰领导者，兄弟俩大约半年后离开。
随后事情变得混乱。前员工描述领导层对增长指标不投入、营销削减、客服从洛杉矶移至菲律宾呼叫中心再到凤凰城、好莱坞山中心关闭——据州文件，2019年洛杉矶至少裁员92人。Second Measure数据显示，Wag市场份额从2018年第一季度的近23%下降到2019年9月的约16%，而竞争对手Rover增长，2019年第二季度销售额同比下降近12%。
报告前一年至少发生五起狗在Wag照看中受虐或死亡的公开事件，预期的全球扩张从未发生——Wag仅增加10个美国城市。CNN的报道基于对17名前员工的采访，2019年9月27日在Hacker News上获得200分和272条评论，该案例成为对软银以巨额支票购买增长策略更广泛反思的一部分。
这件事要成立，得有什么
- 逆转有数据记录：Wag市场份额从2018年第一季度近23%下降到2019年9月的约16%，而Rover增长，2019年第二季度销售额同比下降近12%。
- 资金未带来运营成熟：人力资源只在交易时才到位，客服无法应对量，2019年洛杉矶至少裁员92人。
- 宠物护理中信任是产品：一年内至少五起狗在Wag照看中受伤或死亡的公开事件，每次安全失误都削弱市场对主人的核心承诺。
- 本轮融资的前提是全球扩张从未实现：软银合作伙伴曾称Wag为全球宠物护理领导者，但投资后仅增加10个美国城市。
可借鉴之处
资本无法取代信任业务中的运营：处理宠物问题的市场传播事件如同传播遛狗量一样迅速，没有连贯指标的巨大支票加速了混乱。
后续进展
截至2019年9月27日，Wag仍存活但萎缩：大约16%市场份额，当年在洛杉矶至少裁员92人，量下降且无全球扩张，公司告诉CNN正努力“稳重成长”。CNN文章没有记录该日期后的事件，因此Wag后来是否恢复、继续萎缩或退出不在本案例范围内。
资料来源
- Dog-walking startup Wag raised $300 million to unleash growth. Then things got messy
- Dog-walking startup Wag raised $300M, then things got messy
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