Juicero

A $400 Wi-Fi juice press whose packs, a reporter showed, you could squeeze just as well by hand.

What it did

Juicero sold an internet-connected countertop press that squeezed single-serving packs of chopped produce into juice, paired with a subscription for the proprietary packs. The machine launched in 2016 at $700, later cut to $400.

Who it was for

Affluent, health-conscious consumers who wanted fresh cold-pressed juice at home without the mess of a traditional juicer.

Why it failed

The product was built around hardware that turned out to be unnecessary. The value was in the pre-cut produce packs, not the costly press, and a single demonstration collapsed the entire premium proposition.

The biggest mistake

Over-engineering an expensive connected appliance without proving it solved a problem the packs did not already solve on their own.

Lessons learned

Ask what job the product actually does before building it. A high price and clever engineering are liabilities, not assets, if a customer can get the same result for free.

What we'd do differently

Prototype cheaply, put the packs in customers' hands with and without the machine, and confirm the device does real work before raising and manufacturing at scale.

Sources

Bloomberg, Silicon Valley's $400 Juicer May Be Feeling the Squeeze: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2017-04-19/silicon-valley-s-400-juicer-may-be-feeling-the-squeeze Forbes, Silicon Valley's Infamous $400 Juicer Startup Is Shutting Down: https://www.forbes.com/sites/bizcarson/2017/09/01/silicon-valleys-infamous-400-juicer-startup-is-shutting-down/ CNN Business, Startup behind ridiculed $400 juicer shuts down: https://money.cnn.com/2017/09/01/technology/business/juicero-shuts-down/index.html