Everything I’ve learned about failure (from building a startup with 4+ million users)
“Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better.”
Samuel Beckett’s famous words have a nice ring to them. And for a long time, they’ve permeated the wider circles of entrepreneurship as a kind of Silicon Valley mantra.
Failure is necessary. Failure is humbling. Failure is, almost — trendy?
At least on the outside.
Backstage, we scramble hysterically to avoid it at all costs. After all, businesses rely on consistency, predictability and success — the opposite of failure.
And let’s be clear. Taking a glib, cavalier attitude toward failure is dangerous.
Entrepreneur-turned-VC Mark Suster argues that the Fail Fast mantra is:
“Wrong, irresponsible, unethical and heartless. Tell that to the person who wrote you $50,000 of their hard earned money and entrusted you to try your best. Fail fast?”
And failure certainly isn’t something to seek out. But it is inevitable. And with the right perspective, it can be transformed into something altogether more…
