Casper

How it happened

Casper was a U.S. direct-to-consumer mattress brand that reached a ~$1.1B valuation in 2019. Its 2020 IPO priced sharply below that, raising about $744M at a reduced valuation, and persistent losses led private equity firm Durational Capital Management to take it private in 2021 for roughly $300M — far below its unicorn peak. Employees watched the shine wear off: Glassdoor reviews from the take-private years described heavy spending on marketing and store expansion that outran revenue, constant restructuring and management churn, and successive layoff rounds — one veteran counted roughly eight by mid-2023 — with perks and benefits quietly pared back under the new owners.

Employee accounts paraphrase anonymous, unverified reviews posted publicly on Glassdoor ↗. See our methodology.