In the end, Daan is a sort of compendium of failure factors and red flags, without it being fair to say it’s a bad company.

Because Daan’s failure doesn’t necessarily call Made In France into question: the proof is that the company managed to be profitable early on, and Bob’s design was conceived to reduce the impact of labour costs.

Yet betting everything on that argument, and on the (sometimes borderline) green one, is a mistake: it cuts you off from a major part of the public, who come looking for a solution to their own problem before fixing France’s (or the world’s). And yes, it’s infuriating, because the same people bang pots and pans in support of farmers or nurses, but refuse to buy (or vote) in line with what they say.

Daan is above all the failure of partners unable to agree on a shared vision, in wars that will no doubt end with everyone losing 100% of their stake.

Daan is the failure of all-in marketing against pragmatism. Because in “sustainable development”… well, there’s “sustainable”. So if the (essential) causes the company champions can’t last over time for lack of profitability, they won’t solve any problem.

But above all, Daan is yet another deeply problematic crowdfunding. It’s simply unbelievable that the boss is now considering making individuals cough up once again. That’s not their job.

How can the AMF, France’s financial markets regulator, let crowdfunding players thrive when their only business is selling their licence to rake in fees, with no transparency whatsoever, hiding behind “yeah, but it was written in the 400-page document you didn’t read”?

Daan’s likely fall is not that of a national symbol, but that of a business model that put image before substance, growth before profitability, and story before reality.

My name is Benjamin Charles, and I do branding, positioning and content creation consulting for companies in finance, real estate and web3.

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