Consumer Software Is Dead

I sometimes like to play a game with other early-stage startup founders. The game is simple: can you name a Series A fundraising round for a consumer software company from the last 12 months?

Not a “prosumer” company. Not a “put some stuff you would buy in a store and mail it to me” company. A true, unadorned, consumer software company, that’s trying to make a product your mom would use.

Think for 10 seconds…it’s pretty hard, right?

Not that there’s no answers, but there are few. And if you’re not a professional investor, it’s nearly impossible to come up with any.

Why are we in a dark, cold winter for consumer software investments? Is it because big bad Facebook is coming to kill us all? Is it because the mobile revolution is “tapped out”? Is it because you can’t get users without paying for advertising at unsustainable rates?

I’m talking my own book here, but I think consumer software is severely underfunded. And for those who hope to be “contrarian and right”, there are very few opportunities to make contrarian bets into markets with billions of users. This one might be worth a second look.