Signify Premium Insight: Of Planes and Purple Cows: MaxQ AI’s Failure Under Pressure
Published: January 25, 2022
“We have had a history of losses and we may be unable to generate revenues” warned MaxQ in an investor prospectus from 2018 as it set about an ill-fated attempt to list on the Nasdaq Capital Market. This warning was printed in the chapter of the prospectus entitled ‘Risk Factors’, a chapter which, with the benefit of hindsight, is sadly prophetic. Among those identified risks which proved particularly close to the mark were “failure to articulate the perceived benefits of our solution or failure to persuade potential…customers that such benefits justify the additional cost”; “ Failure to generate broad customer acceptance of or interest in our solutions,”; and the “introduction of competitive offerings by other companies”. These factors and others were instrumental in the failure of MaxQ’s Accipio products, with some aspects more important than others.