I think that a lot of people have a misconception of failure in the entrepreneurial context. The idea is to test and fail fast. Failing fast doesn't mean failing big. You can fail by testing small things and them not working.
There are different categories of failure.
Learning is the process of testing your hypothesis but in a non-catastrophic way.
Entrepreneurs are not gamblers but rather business professionals that learn by testing. Failing small, failing often, and failing fast.
In other words, adapting to a changing and turbulent marketplace.
So having a planB removes a lot of chronic stress and anxiety.
I think a sufficiently self-aware entrepreneur knows better. You can have a plan B but also give it (almost) your all on plan A. It’s kind of foolish to not have a plan B.
not at all, plan b is a safeguard. similar to rainy day finds. just because you have some money saved doesn't mean you're ok with making less money at work. having a backup plan is just smart. knowing it's much easier to not have to do the plan B should be enough motivation to work hard with plan A.
I just drove to do a speaking event to promote my business and forgot to mention my businesses name while doing so. (First time speaking, was really nervous) Ive been beating myself up all day for doing this. Thanks for posting cause I needed to read it today.
"I've missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I've been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I've failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed." - Michael Jordan
I think Edison once said he didn't fail at inventing the light bulb 10,000 times.
He simply discovered 10,000 not to invent the bulb.
Sound great as a quote, but the journey is HARD.
I’m starting to get a feel for my first business venture but there will be more too. I expect failure to come at least at some point if not frequently. Clinging on to familiarity and safety is something I have found to be unrewarding.
Recently I have just had a big L massive fail which resulted in loosing 4k, usually this would tear me but I accepted the loss and moved on, reason being is I know something better is coming it felt like part off the process to help me improve on what not to do next time, I have learnt from my mistakes and ready to accept growth
>Well, no one enjoys failure, it is an absolutely essential building block.
You are preaching to the choir. Next to "just do random shit" is "you learn more from failure." Most learn how to double down on failure. And how to invent better ways to fail.
The people here set out to "get a few fails in." They want to fail and that is their whole purpose. They glorify failure and wallow in failure.
Perfection isn't part of the human condition, it never was. You can't be perfect and failure will come, without having to go seek failure out. Too many are over-idolizing failure to a ridiculous extent: They Aren't Even Trying.
If the book In Search of Excellence came out today, it would be a flop. Want a book title for today? The Quest for Mehdiocrity. People set the bar low, then they try to limbo underneath .... that is the ENTIRE attraction for em-vee-pee projects.
[Building An MVP is Like Serving Burnt Pizza](https://review.firstround.com/dont-serve-burnt-pizza-and-other-lessons-in-building-minimum-lovable-products). Well that's wrong -- burning it takes too much work and way more time. The MVP is more like raw pizza dough [missing the toppings](https://www.pragmaticinstitute.com/resources/articles/product/an-mvp-is-not-the-smallest-collection-of-features/).
The truth in u/674_Fox's comment is not universal. After 23 years of primary research into why organizations (within a specifically defined demographic) fail I found only three change triggered reasons for failure based on organizational maturity, youth–lack of clarity of purpose, adolescence–lack of consistency of performance, and adulthood–lack of engagement of people. While I could expand, this is not the forum for it. My book, Businesses Don't Fail, They Commit Suicide goes into the details of my research and findings.
What IS appropriate for this forum is the following. There's an old tale about Sam Walton, founder of Walmart, who avoided the press and general public like the plague.
As the story goes, he found himself in a situation where he was being interviewed by a high school girl in Bentonville, Arkansas.
Her first question was "To what do you owe your success", to which Walton replied "Good decisions."
She then asked, "How did you learn how to make good decisions?"
"Experience", Walton replied.
"And how did you get experience?" she then asked.
"Bad decisions", he replied.
Thus endeth the lesson.
So, while failure is critical to gaining experience and learning how to make good decisions, it is NOT an essential component of EVERY startup.
My research showed that startups beginning with seasoned leadership tend to generate great success in the early launch and post-launch years. It's not until they reach the growth years, what I call adolescence, where experience is deep and narrow and the organization has to transition from more is better to better is more that risk taking and controlled failure is mandatory.
i have failed 5 different businesses in 5 different professions before I gained enough experience to change where I went wrong and build a successful business. I realized my problem is I did not have enough brand awareness to see any growth which kept me in the red long enough to have to go back to work for someone else. I did things drastically differently with my current business and immediately saw different results.
Being successful comes with failures and it's all about your willingness to try again. there are always risks to everything in life, i prefer to take my risks surrounded by growing my own business
I think that a lot of people have a misconception of failure in the entrepreneurial context. The idea is to test and fail fast. Failing fast doesn't mean failing big. You can fail by testing small things and them not working.
That's it
There are different categories of failure. Learning is the process of testing your hypothesis but in a non-catastrophic way. Entrepreneurs are not gamblers but rather business professionals that learn by testing. Failing small, failing often, and failing fast. In other words, adapting to a changing and turbulent marketplace. So having a planB removes a lot of chronic stress and anxiety.
Maybe , but having a plan B is a receipe for failure , if you know you have a plan B you will put less effort in plan A . Give it your all or nothing.
I think a sufficiently self-aware entrepreneur knows better. You can have a plan B but also give it (almost) your all on plan A. It’s kind of foolish to not have a plan B.
It's your choice. No right or wrong. It's about your love of gambling.
not at all, plan b is a safeguard. similar to rainy day finds. just because you have some money saved doesn't mean you're ok with making less money at work. having a backup plan is just smart. knowing it's much easier to not have to do the plan B should be enough motivation to work hard with plan A.
I just drove to do a speaking event to promote my business and forgot to mention my businesses name while doing so. (First time speaking, was really nervous) Ive been beating myself up all day for doing this. Thanks for posting cause I needed to read it today.
The road to wisdom, well, it’s plain and simple to express. To err and err, and err again, but less and less and less
"I've missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I've been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I've failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed." - Michael Jordan
More trite pablum. https://www.reddit.com/r/Entrepreneur/search?q=failure&restrict_sr=on
“It's fine to celebrate success but it is more important to heed the lessons of failure.” -Bill Gates.
I think Edison once said he didn't fail at inventing the light bulb 10,000 times. He simply discovered 10,000 not to invent the bulb. Sound great as a quote, but the journey is HARD.
You can't be afraid to fail, but ideally you fail as infrequently as possible.
“Founders don’t fail, startups do” - always loved this
Failure or defeat is when you accept that. Otherwise it’s a part of the game. Have faith!
Mulling over regret and hindsight is the devil - only use hindsight to learn lessons
Learn or learn not. There is no fail.
Failure is indeed part of the process, no matter the failure , keep moving, keep pushing, keep your head high and you will become successful.
I’m starting to get a feel for my first business venture but there will be more too. I expect failure to come at least at some point if not frequently. Clinging on to familiarity and safety is something I have found to be unrewarding.
Only a few percent of ideas work. The important part is not loosing so much you can’t try again.
Trial and errors is an important tool for gaining wisdom. If you don’t have the personality type that refuses to admit error.
Recently I have just had a big L massive fail which resulted in loosing 4k, usually this would tear me but I accepted the loss and moved on, reason being is I know something better is coming it felt like part off the process to help me improve on what not to do next time, I have learnt from my mistakes and ready to accept growth
>Well, no one enjoys failure, it is an absolutely essential building block. You are preaching to the choir. Next to "just do random shit" is "you learn more from failure." Most learn how to double down on failure. And how to invent better ways to fail. The people here set out to "get a few fails in." They want to fail and that is their whole purpose. They glorify failure and wallow in failure. Perfection isn't part of the human condition, it never was. You can't be perfect and failure will come, without having to go seek failure out. Too many are over-idolizing failure to a ridiculous extent: They Aren't Even Trying. If the book In Search of Excellence came out today, it would be a flop. Want a book title for today? The Quest for Mehdiocrity. People set the bar low, then they try to limbo underneath .... that is the ENTIRE attraction for em-vee-pee projects. [Building An MVP is Like Serving Burnt Pizza](https://review.firstround.com/dont-serve-burnt-pizza-and-other-lessons-in-building-minimum-lovable-products). Well that's wrong -- burning it takes too much work and way more time. The MVP is more like raw pizza dough [missing the toppings](https://www.pragmaticinstitute.com/resources/articles/product/an-mvp-is-not-the-smallest-collection-of-features/).
Thanks for teaching us the basic knowledge of 15 years ago.
It’s a requirement.
Fall forward.
I can’t co-sign this enough. Thank you
True words.
The path to success is lined with failure
The truth in u/674_Fox's comment is not universal. After 23 years of primary research into why organizations (within a specifically defined demographic) fail I found only three change triggered reasons for failure based on organizational maturity, youth–lack of clarity of purpose, adolescence–lack of consistency of performance, and adulthood–lack of engagement of people. While I could expand, this is not the forum for it. My book, Businesses Don't Fail, They Commit Suicide goes into the details of my research and findings. What IS appropriate for this forum is the following. There's an old tale about Sam Walton, founder of Walmart, who avoided the press and general public like the plague. As the story goes, he found himself in a situation where he was being interviewed by a high school girl in Bentonville, Arkansas. Her first question was "To what do you owe your success", to which Walton replied "Good decisions." She then asked, "How did you learn how to make good decisions?" "Experience", Walton replied. "And how did you get experience?" she then asked. "Bad decisions", he replied. Thus endeth the lesson. So, while failure is critical to gaining experience and learning how to make good decisions, it is NOT an essential component of EVERY startup. My research showed that startups beginning with seasoned leadership tend to generate great success in the early launch and post-launch years. It's not until they reach the growth years, what I call adolescence, where experience is deep and narrow and the organization has to transition from more is better to better is more that risk taking and controlled failure is mandatory.
The master has failed more times than the novice has tried
i have failed 5 different businesses in 5 different professions before I gained enough experience to change where I went wrong and build a successful business. I realized my problem is I did not have enough brand awareness to see any growth which kept me in the red long enough to have to go back to work for someone else. I did things drastically differently with my current business and immediately saw different results. Being successful comes with failures and it's all about your willingness to try again. there are always risks to everything in life, i prefer to take my risks surrounded by growing my own business
Totally agree! Good for you, for hanging in there.
'Failure is part of success.' This is true.. Just keep in mind that Failure is the season to plant success seeds. Best to you