Instant Pot had $300M+ revenue, passionate users, and $100M cash on hand.
So why did they file for bankruptcy?
The answer lies in the pattern of how private equity systematically destroys beloved products through financial engineering!
In this podcast, Product Manager Brian Orlando and Enterprise Business Agility Coach Om Patel examine the acquisition of Instant Brands and discuss how leveraged buyouts, special dividends, and debt loading likely turned a kitchen innovation success story into a cautionary tale for every product team.
Watch or listen to learn:
• Real reasons successful products fail under PE ownership
• Why "professional management" really means cutting the people who built the product
• How debt servicing kills innovation budgets
• The one question every product manager should ask their CFO
• Why product-led growth can't survive private equity's playbook
This isn't just about Instant Pot - it's about protecting the products and teams you care about from becoming the next casualty of financial engineering.
#ProductManagement #PrivateEquity #InstantPot
References:
- New Lawsuit Accuses Private Equity Company of Plundering Assets of Instant Brands; Michael Wolf, Nov 2024; https://thespoon.tech/new-lawsuit-accuses-private-equity-company-of-plundering-assets-of-instant-brands/
- Arguing Agile #61: AA61 - Experiences in Corporate Buyouts (Mergers & Acquisitions)
- Arguing Agile #96: AA96 - Stages of Company Decline, or When Companies Hate Their Customers
Tags
#ProductManagement #InstantPot #ArguingAgile
LINKS
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@arguingagile
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/362QvYORmtZRKAeTAE57v3
Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/agile-podcast/id1568557596
Website: http://arguingagile.com
= = = = = = = = = = = =
Toronto Is My Beat (Music Sample)
By Whitewolf (Source: https://ccmixter.org/files/whitewolf225/60181)
CC BY 4.0 DEED (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.en)
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
The Joe Rogan Experience
The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Special Summer Offer: Exclusively on Apple Podcasts, try our Dateline Premium subscription completely free for one month! With Dateline Premium, you get every episode ad-free plus exclusive bonus content.