Essential has closed its company doors for the last time, bringing an end to what was a turbulent, and short-lived tech company. Following multiple sexual misconduct claims aimed at the company’s CEO, Andy Rubin, Essential failed to re-establish its place in the market. Here’s an explanation on how and what happened.
Often referred to as the “father of Android,” Rubin co-founded the mobile operating system along with Rich Miner, Nick Sears, and Chris White. Not long afterwards, the founders were taken under Google’s wing when the search giant acquired Android, Inc., and turned the mobile OS into the platform many now know today. Almost a decade later, Rubin left Google in 2014 although he was not out of the smartphone business for long with Essential Products launching a year later. The new startup was immediately viewed by many as an extension of Rubin, and especially considering one of its first products was the Essential Phone (or Essential PH-1) - a smartphone powered by Android, and one of the first to kick-start the “notch” era of phones.
This proved to be the high point for Essential. Following the release of the Essential Phone, the company routinely announced new products, before delaying and/or outright cancelling them. A point that was reiterated this week when the Essential confirmed its latest product - a “new mobile experience” called “Project GEM” - had been taken as far as it could and was no longer destined for market. Nonchalantly, the announcement then also added the entire company was shutting down as well.
Where Did It Go Wrong For Essential?
There were many mistakes Essential made along the way including the continued delays and cancellations of its products. However, Essential never fully crawled out of the shadow of the sexual misconduct allegations aimed at Rubin even though the CEO had taken a leave of absence for “personal reasons” before the headlines arrived. Reported by many outlets, including a detailed account by The New York Times, the allegations were far-reaching. Over time, and as even more details came to light, the picture painted was one of sexual misconduct, followed by Google becoming aware, investigating and finding the claims credible, but opting to manage and control the issue quietly and behind closed doors. Essentially, the reports explained how Google struck a deal with Rubin that saw him leave the company but not without a compensation package to the tune of $90 million. This did not prove to be a good look for Rubin, Essential or Google.
From the perspective of the search company, the Rubin reports were followed by more revelations that other executives had also been paid and given a hero’s sendoff for similar reasons, resulting in many of the company’s own employees publicly protesting Google’s actions. This all led to Google’s new CEO, Sundar Pichai, issuing a “we have not always gotten everything right in the past” apology and announcing changes to the way it reports and handles similar claims in the future. All the while, Essential simply tried to continue to distance itself from its CEO and that was something that never really happened. Irrespective of the Rubin situation, Essential was routinely criticized for its day-to-day running and product development/delivery, and therefore there is the argument the company might not have been that sustainable over the long-term anyway. However, the Rubin claims were to cast such a long shadow, that no matter what else the company did, or how disruptive it attempted to be, many would have always associated Essential with Rubin. After all, the company only found fame and attracted such substantial media interest to begin with, because of Rubin, not in spite him.
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Source: Essential
