How An Allegedly Fake Video Killed A Much-Hyped Drone Startup

The Lily Camera, a throw-and-shoot camera, is displayed during CES Unveiled at the 2016 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in Jan. 2016. On Dec. 20, Lily Robotics was up against a wall. It was five days before Christmas, and dozens of eager customers who had spent more than $499 to pre-order the company's flagship product were wondering if they were ever going to see it. A San Francisco-based startup that had promised to build an autonomous flying camera, Lily was among the most-anticipated consumer hardware companies in Silicon Valley. In May 2015, its splashy launch video, featuring a four-propeller robot whizzing around a kayaker and snowboarder, went viral and was watched 5.3 million times in its first month.