Jawbone Speaker Downfall: Company Forensics 

I remember when their speakers were everywhere

I still have a Jawbone Big Jambox (damn good and loud speaker)! Had it since around 2013 (7 years). It sounds about as good as my original Bose Soundlink. It has been through hell. Took it camping all the time. It was dropped, slammed in a car door and dented bad, etc.. Still works and sounds like new 7 years later. Battery still holds full charge. Still use it almost daily. I didn't even know this company ran into issues.

Please do 1. Google Ara 2. Nokia 3. Microsoft Lumia / Windows phone 4. HTC

I still use a mini jambox with my gaming pc when I'm not using headphones. I'm so glad I bought one. They're the best Bluetooth speaker for their price.

For 2016, while fitbit sent more than 22 million devices to its cutomers, jawbone sent less than 20% of that. Graphics for that should not be Fitbit 22.3M / Jawbone -20%. That graphics is meaning less. Not ure if Fitbit 22.3M / Jawbone < 20% is the best, but at least it is better.

I have my Big Jambox also for over 7 years now and still use it daily in combination with my laptop. In the past I took it out more often than nowadays. It's seen sand and rain and it even dropped out of the 2nd story of my flat - it has a few bumps and bends on the outside mesh but otherwise still works like on day one. Even with the battery I have no issues so far (only the charger has a loose contact, so I have to fiddle around a bit when i want to charge). Nonetheless, i'm currently looking for a somewhat more handy and portable device for when being outside. But whenever there's a house party, big old jambox is the one to go with - even she's an oldie by now. :)

Damn I still use my big jambox everyday. RIP

Got mine 7-8 years ago for 200 €. My first speaker. And after thousands of falls, rain, bicycle crash, motorcycle crash, the buttons came off. So i fixed them, always. And after all that year's. Still the best speaker I heard of. My brother bought a ”better one” Jbl extreme. Yeah... That lasted 2-3 years after its battery died. It has a lot of dents, scratches. Glue and welding points. Every scar it has tells a story. Our Journey. Sorry for the last part, got carried away...

Engineering speakers is something that specialist companies solved a long time ago. Including noise cancelling, which people did 60 years ago. I'm amazed someone could patent a basic principles of physics.

Today, in June 2024, I still have my Big Jambox in my garage. which I purchased I think in 2011. They are my speakers of choice while I'm out working on my car or doing other stuff in my garage. I still love these speakers and they sound great.

Was about to join a forensics/restructuring company as an analyst after graduation. Made the mistake of going with a higher pay in a startup and now I got let go due to pandemic's effect on topline. This video reminded me of my regret, the allure of startups and short sightedness.

If you watch the WIRED destruction test on Jambox big is unbelievable, still mine after 6 years still going strong.

Great video again. Really impressive 👏🏻👏🏻

I remember that jawbone bluetootb speaker. And i actually assumed they were still making speakers to this day. Had no idea they switched to wearables years ago and went out of business.

I remember selling a bunch of those jawbone’s to hands-free talking pricks almost everyday when I worked for T-Mobile and never made commissions selling them, thanks.

I feel like even the janitor at Stanford must have a start up.

A very good analysis of a start-up that fails to take great advantages at its disposal in a timely manner.

Best speakers ever - they need to come back :’(

I’ve had my Big Jambox since 2013 and continue to use it daily at work, it’s a tough loud speaker no issues besides dents in the metallic mesh. It’s a quality speaker for sure

What other options are there for a bluetooth in-ear headset with good noice cancelation?

This was a seriously well done video. Thank you, and more please.

No lie, jawbone speakers are incredible. They have clearer sound than Bose, beats, and JBL. They are a little quiet. But not by much. Incredible speakers

Hey Caya, really enjoyed your videos. I was wondering if you could also do like "startup hall of fame" of successful startups, from the popular ones to the lesser known ones (probably because they got acquired). Thanks :)

Thanks Slidebean team I recommend you to do a video on how to hire good talented experienced people and make them joint your team including what platforms to use in hiring e.g. Angelist, Linkedin etc. and what to offer them how many shares or percentage in the company As we know the team is one of the most important factors in startup success!

I love this Startup Forensics series. Thanks

Still have my Jawbone Big Jambox. Had it since release, used it daily for probably 4 years. Thing still works perfectly besides the dings its received over all the years. Thing is a tank.

I liked my UP... well when it actually worked I went through 3 in one month.

Had a Jawbone Move. Good device. But when I had to update chose a Fitbit mainly because it had display while the Jawbone didn’t. Liked more the app than Fitbit’s.

Back in the day I loved my jowbone jam box and funny enough my buddy that I sold it to found it the other week. We both completely forgot about it

Their first product is basically the real life codec from MGS series

I won a Big Jambox through a corporate employer 10 years ago. I couldn't believe what they said the retail value was! Great speaker though! Still going strong. Easily loud enough to be a car stereo and sturdily wrapped in metal. I hope it lives forever!

wow.. what a story. I stil use my Jambox today it's just a little music power house :)

As a founder of a wearable startup I am glad I didn't pay attention to most of the hardships major funded hardware startups were going through. We definitely had it worst but bootstrapped our way to market and it feels crazy to see how we were creating wearables right around the time the Apple Watch was launched. We've come a long way and finally got it right :)

they should have stuck to speakers and wireless headphones. lmfao

Great job!! Very useful for someone who wants to understand the root of the problem! Cheers!

Just to say I appreciate the effort put in the research

You completely missed a key event. Due to reliability issues with the UP and the high percentage of them failing after a short period of time, Jawbone was forced to issue a refund to all purchasers of the original UP. Jawbone brought out the replacement model, the UP2, touted as having address the reliability issues, but unfortunately, the UP2 devices continued to fail. Had they been able to solve the reliability issues, perhaps things would have worked out. The UP3 didn't have a real chance given the history.

Owned the original jawbone bluetooth earpiece. It was the best thing out at that time (2005 I think)

My Jawbone will fully charge, the charging ring turns white. As soon as I unplug it the charge light goes dark. Does that mean I need to replace the battery and is that possible?

24 hours. That movie!!!

I want to know what happened to the $900M in just a few years...

I’ve still got my jawbone speaker, it’s not loud but it’s a great little speaker that I stick in my pocket when I’m cycling, lovely little gadget.

Had there’s headset and loved it, we also bought the first jambax and it still rocks that little shit🤪

Wow didn't realise I'd actually forgotten about this brand.

I actually havn't heard the name "Jawbone" since I was in 5th grade. That was like 2015.

I remember choosing between a jawbone and a Fitbit, and ended up going with Fitbit. Guess I chose well?

The Apple Watch Series 1 was released in 2016. The Apple Watch (1st Generation) was released in 2015.

MoveUp was my first smart thing only to realize the cheap price on eBay was due to the servers due to shutdown. Off I moved on to another dead product Pebble, but at least the software is still maintained.

My Mini Jambox is one of my favorite speakers I’ve owned

Why did they fail? They flip-flopped from product to product seemingly randomly, it’s like they didn’t understand why they existed in the first place. The best companies seem to know how to state their cause, their belief, and reinforce it in their products. How do you go from the military to consumer headphones to Bluetooth speakers to health-monitoring bracelets (a-la fit bits)? They clearly had remarkable engineering talent and enough capital, but the founders probably needed to do some soul searching. I’m speculating all of this. Maybe they knew exactly what they were doing, or at the very least what they wanted. In that case, they just didn’t do a great job of making it apparent. I couldn’t sense the passion, it just seemed like two smart guys trying their hand at capitalism. A good example of a core belief is Caya and Slidebean: they want to help founders unlock their potential, and change the world. Think about how many diverse groups of people need slides: students, professors, accountants, lawyers, engineers, speakers, you name it. Slidebean could be marketed for everyone, and in fact, today anyone can use their website. But it’s pretty clear that they focus deeply on founders. You can’t fake that level of belief that you’re doing something important: helping founders to position themselves to change the world in any way they can. I think the big lesson here is we need to really do some deep, deep soul-searching to get at the reason for doing what we do. I know my core driver, but it took years to figure out, and months to learn how to articulate. Figuring out what you believe, with or without a product, will improve your odds of success. Please try it, it will change your life. Oh, and check out “Simon Sinek, start with why”. It’s a TED talk on RU-vid that really says what I’m saying in a more eloquent way. If you like the talk, maybe you’ll like his book too (for the price of fast food). Take a chance, watch the video. Best wishes, and good luck to Slidebean. PS: I’m not associated with Caya, Slidebean, or Simon Sinek in any way. I’m just calling it how I see it.

Your logo looks like Skype.

Like all your video's

I just love your videos.

CNBC just needs to hire this guy already

Oui mais pourquoi sa a disparue Jawbone?

Good video good content

Do a startup forensics of Instagram

No joke: Jawbone headsets had the BEST call quality. Mainly b/c the tech sensed vibrations from your, you guessed it, jawbone. That was completely new and filtered out all ambient sound. Anyways since then no one else has duplicated how good these little guys were! Jawbone come back or at least sell that Damn Patent!

I never even knew that Jawbone did any of that fitness accessory fad nonsense. The last product with that name on it that I'd ever seen was a cordless headset.

It's funny how everyone knows the reasons why a company was successful, but finding out the exact reasons for failure are so obscure

what's wrong with the video quality?

I'm still enjoying the Big Jambox too. Needs a new battery and there are many replacements on eBay for $24. RU-vid teaches you how to replace the battery. Too bad about the company

They should have just kept making jam boxes and stayed away from the fitness industry. To this day it's still the best portable Bluetooth speaker in its size

They made the best Bluetooth headsets. They were a decade ahead of their time.

LOL! White T-shirt on a white background...?

I wouldn't really call a company that lasted 20 years, was valued at 3b dollars and worked for the military a "startup that failed too soon."

Does this mean that my (fully working) Jawbone earpiece is now a rarity item worth 1000 of dollars?

Great video. Have you guys heard of Failory?

Jawbone should’ve stuck with Bluetooth speakers and headphones. Then launch on ear and overear headphone in 2012 and truely wireless headphones in 2017. Make all jam boxes water resistant in 2016.

if they were the second worst bankruptcy of a VC backed company, who was the worst???

Best sounding mid range speaker is the Jawbone big jam box. Better than my Bose sound link and Sony. $200 best investment I made.

You can’t get success by studying failure , I like these series but ... some forks might get addicted to learning failures and hence fail

This is unique RU-vid channel I have ever seen 👍

The company diversified their products too much and didn't do any one thing exceptionally. There was no identity. It became just another electronics brand.

I still use my mini jambox

I still have my mini jambox.

Deadass thought the channel name was Sideburn Slipups...

Listening to music on a big jambox rn 🤔 Google is listening I guess.

How about a user interface hall of shame video series? Profile software products of the past and present that are just horrible to use.

Damn i still have my jawbone tho.

Me listening to this on the jambox

I didn't even know jawbone went bust

JBL Bass test videos

I had the Jawbone 3. I also felt the very important heart rate monitor wasn't very good (it couldn't give you real time results). Although I always handled it very carefully, the strap suddenly broke, I got a replacement that also broke in the same place. I gave up on them, ...I guess a lot of other people did too!

Loved my headset, everything else was crap.

Ok. So it wasn't like they were jawboned by anyone into shutting down or anything.

So what the lesson here? time or lake of innovation?

Glass jawbone.

That was so typical Korean company. Treating its employees badly, copying other products without fair cost, pushing religion belief recklessly, running business solely inside the family, etc.

Pebble Deserve to be alive

I think they died because their fitness product was called “jawbone” and wtf does “jawbone” have to do with fitness

I guess he's never heard of Xiaomi before? He TOTALLY mangled their name!

Like like like like like like like like then watch 😂

My dude. Your videos are great. Why are you promoting this stupid slidbean thing. You could make more money just making full time RU-vid videos.

They made extremely overhyped products

The name Jawbone health is ironic as they aim to detect chronic heart disease but couldn't detect and rescue themselves from chronic rot in their own company! Trust lost

For a company that sells a slide presentation service you sure have a lot of errors in your slide presentations. The videos have interesting subjects but so far 3 out of 3 videos I've watched have had errors in the presentations such as typos, text that doesn't correspond to what the presenter is saying etc.

My jawbone speaker sucked eggs.

This guy has a serious problem pronouncing very common words Ive heard it on his other videos Carl "Ecahn" Ceased = Seized Toemail = Turmoil Huh? He needs to read his script first or slow down just a touch

I had a girlfriend named jawbone once. Use your imagination.