When Data Falls Short: Analyzing the Role of Data Capability in the Failure of a Bike-Sharing Company

The dramatic cycle of rapid expansion followed by an abrupt decline in a remarkably short timeframe of the bike-sharing economy resulted in the downfall of many sharing bike startups. It is particularly interesting and valuable to examine such failure since the controversy can help reveal processes that may remain hidden in those successful projects. In this study, we conducted a case study on the ABC company, a leading sharing bike startup that failed eventually. The analysis of ABC's four-stage evolution highlights how the mistakes in entrepreneurial processes at the data level hindered the development of data capabilities across different stages. This shortfall resulted in flawed decision-making and operational challenges.