Telly, a home theater startup that debuted in 2023 with an unconventional business model, has failed to deliver on its lofty projections. Instead of hitting its initial target of 500,000 shipped sets by the end of summer last year, it claims to have only provided free televisions to approximately 35,000 customers, each equipped with dual screens featuring continuous advertisements.
The company's unorthodox approach initially generated interest, with an astonishing 250,000 pre-orders in June 2023. However, manufacturing issues and logistical problems plagued Telly's shipments, with around 10% of its deliveries arriving damaged through FedEx. These issues are not new; a thread on the company's Reddit page reveals that customers have been dealing with delayed shipments and broken replacements for months.
It remains to be seen how well this unusual business model will hold up in the long term. Despite Telly's relatively low success rate, it appears the startup has maintained some level of interest among its target audience β albeit at a significantly lower-than-anticipated scale.
The company's unorthodox approach initially generated interest, with an astonishing 250,000 pre-orders in June 2023. However, manufacturing issues and logistical problems plagued Telly's shipments, with around 10% of its deliveries arriving damaged through FedEx. These issues are not new; a thread on the company's Reddit page reveals that customers have been dealing with delayed shipments and broken replacements for months.
It remains to be seen how well this unusual business model will hold up in the long term. Despite Telly's relatively low success rate, it appears the startup has maintained some level of interest among its target audience β albeit at a significantly lower-than-anticipated scale.