TBH, I would be surprised if Color didn't "succeed" in some way. They have enough money to try at least 5-10 different ideas & approaches and that is an incredible luxury. And I don't mean slight pivots, I mean complete departures from what they are doing now.
Will they be successful? It seems obvious that they are fumbling around and actively searching for a model. I'm going to wager that if they do "succeed" some day it is because the VCs worked hard to find them an exit into some big company.
With that much money, they will likely have a huge burn rate and flame out much more quickly that expected. I've seen first hand multiple times what too much money can do to a startup. It's not pretty!
Personally, I'm expecting Color to have a similar fate to Cuil. I hope I'm wrong, though, just because being a winning cynic isn't fun.
Will they be successful? It seems obvious that they are fumbling around and actively searching for a model. I'm going to wager that if they do "succeed" some day it is because the VCs worked hard to find them an exit into some big company.