Juicero

Juicero's 2017 shutdown after raising $120 million became Silicon Valley's most mocked failure—a $400 WiFi-connected juicer that squeezed proprietary juice packs that could be squeezed just as effectively by hand. The company exemplified how venture capital can fund solutions to problems that don't exist. Bloomberg's revelation that the juice packs didn't require a machine—human hands worked fine—destroyed the company's premise overnight. Juicero's mechanism failure was engineering sophistication divorced from customer need. The machine contained sensors, WiFi connectivity, a powerful motor, and QR-code readers that verified pack authenticity. These features solved Juicero's problems (controlling the ecosystem, ensuring freshness, collecting data) but provided no value to customers who just wanted juice. This is costly signaling without corresponding benefit—complexity that impressed investors but didn't serve users. The company's business model required customers to buy both a $400 machine and ongoing proprietary juice packs. But juicing is fundamentally simple; barriers to entry are low. Juicero was trying to create lock-in for a product category that resists lock-in. When the hand-squeeze video went viral, the company tried pivoting to cheaper machines and retail distribution, but the brand was permanently associated with unnecessary complexity. Juicero became shorthand for Silicon Valley excess—a reminder that technical sophistication and venture funding don't substitute for solving real problems.