Instigator Blog - Latest Comments in Paying Lip Service to Failure Is Not Enough

Re: Paying Lip Service to Failure Is Not Enough

Justin Wright — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 06:49:58 -0000

I agree with steve. I think the only true form of failure is never trying in the first place. If you try something and give it your all but don't succeed, it isn't really a failure. It's more of a learning experience on what to try the next time around.

Re: Paying Lip Service to Failure Is Not Enough

Steve — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 23:25:35 -0000

Thanks for the article. In my opinion, there's failure and then there's failure because you didn't give it your all. Many entrepreneurs cut loose too early because their business is headed in the wrong direction. In more cases than not, you can often right the ship with a little persistence and some good timing.

Re: Paying Lip Service to Failure Is Not Enough

byosko — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 12:28:21 -0000

Kristin - Thanks for stopping by and commenting, hope to see you back again soon.

I think the Silicon Valley culture around failure really can help people take a bit more risk, jump into the deep end, fail and then brush themselves off to try again. No one gets a "free" pass and no one is going to be able to start too many failed startups without people starting to question their ability, but there's definitely more leeway around failure. And I think more startup ecosystems need to operate that way.

Re: Paying Lip Service to Failure Is Not Enough

kristinwhite — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 05:44:06 -0000

Ben, I think you're right on the mark that "failure is accepted"...I've worked at a couple of startups, and heard stories of other startup experiences, and I can tell you that so many people's amazing careers have been launched by failed startups! Around Silicon Valley, nobody cares if the last startup you did flopped...all they care about is your experience, and what you know...and you can learn just as much, if not more, from a failed startup experience.

So fabulous that you're using Disqus...I just interviewed their CEO last weekend, and I'm a total convert! It's time to set up an account...

Re: Paying Lip Service to Failure Is Not Enough

Tesla — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 10:33:38 -0000

I learnt a great deal through this article and the
comments ( experiences of great minds). I want to thank you all for the great.

Re: Paying Lip Service to Failure Is Not Enough

Jose — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 22:56:28 -0000

Failure sucks, but I agree it should be more of a learning experience in business. You can always turn a failure into a success in business, it just depends on the type of person you are. If affiliate marketing doesn't work out for a person, they can take the skills they learned from it to and apply them to different business project. But always remember this "If at first you don't succeed, try and try again."

Re: Paying Lip Service to Failure Is Not Enough

Pot Roast — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 13:30:53 -0000

My friend recently failed his degree - it's spurred him on to become more career focused and i believe he is now destined for success. Having not "failed" prior to reaching college he hadn't had a chance to learn his lesson before hand./... now that he has learnt his lesson he's ready to go

Re: Paying Lip Service to Failure Is Not Enough

Ann Cummings, Portsmouth NH — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 11:09:11 -0000

How one deals with failure speaks volumes about each of us. When I don't succeed at something, I try to figure out why I didn't and then do it differently the next time. Some of the best lessons I've learned have come about because of failing at something the first time, and sometimes even failing at it more than once. Pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and continue on - that's how I was brought up.

Re: Paying Lip Service to Failure Is Not Enough

Ben Yoskovitz — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 16:04:23 -0000

@Mike: Thanks for the comment - hope you stick around...

Re: Paying Lip Service to Failure Is Not Enough

Mike — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 07:57:23 -0000

Failure is as much a part of any start up as success. However if everyone starts to fear it, there will be no new businesses and innovations. Those who fear taking the next step never ever move forward. Knowing the reasons behind it and working upon them gives us more chances of a success and a bigger one too. Just found this blog, seems quite interesting to me, bookmarked it to go through it later.

Re: Paying Lip Service to Failure Is Not Enough

scarlet — Thu, 08 May 2008 16:06:08 -0000

I'll tell you how I handle failure, by not failing

simple really... unfortunately it never works.

I fail at a LOT of things - but i'm hoping that will change now that im almost in my mid 20s.

Re: Paying Lip Service to Failure Is Not Enough

Sarah, Repossession Stoppers L — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 13:01:53 -0000

Another excellent post - which reminds me of something I was told by a very successful business man, which went along the lines of - it takes wisdom and courage to realise a business is a failure and 'fail it', before it fails you.

Re: Paying Lip Service to Failure Is Not Enough

Jigme Phuntsho — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 15:01:38 -0000

True, failure is inevitable!
Likewise, success is also inevitable if you work hard, put in your 100% and do it at the right time.
It also needs a touch of luck.

Anyways nice article about failure, esp the the below 4:

Don’t look down on those who fail.
Don’t pity those who fail.
Don’t judge those who fail.
Don’t forget those who fail

Jigme Phuntsho
bhutan web hosting

Re: Paying Lip Service to Failure Is Not Enough

John Hunter — Sun, 23 Dec 2007 17:09:52 -0000

Great post on this interesting topic. Some people think ignoring failure is the right approach. And then you have a group that acts like failure is a great learning opportunity. I think you get it right. Failure stinks. Taking real risks mean risking failure. Taking risks can also result in great success. So we are best off overall if we allow risk takers to take risks and accept that there will be failures.

But also that this reasoning should be understood. Failure under the right circumstances should be avoided but may be a reasonable result. Risky moves and failure in other circumstances should be seen as much worse. All failure is not the same.

Re: Paying Lip Service to Failure Is Not Enough

Guru — Fri, 21 Dec 2007 15:50:38 -0000

Nice post,

But when it comes to stuff like handling failures, nothing you learn beforehand can be helpful, cos' in the end how you react in the moment is important. You might've thought about a proper action plan for handling failures, but 99% of the time the plan you thought up won't be usable for that particular day.

So in the end having a general optimistic outlook should suffice, how much you pre plan about failure handling is immaterial..

Re: Paying Lip Service to Failure Is Not Enough

imprinted promotional product — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 10:05:05 -0000

nice post ever seen, really informative regarding to failure and how to face the problems with them. this article helps a lot to face the failure in life.

Re: Paying Lip Service to Failure Is Not Enough

Steve — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 09:48:19 -0000

Hi, Whilst I agree with what you are saying, we have just been through an excercise of finding a suitable business consultant to help us with a few areas which we lack skills and experience. To be blunt, if someone had a string of failed businesses behind them I don't think I would be very keen to follow their advice, let alone pay them for it. So whilst I agree that failure is a learing curve and it happens from time to time, in our circumstances finding someone who has been successfull in growing similar businesses is what we needed.

Steve

Re: Paying Lip Service to Failure Is Not Enough

Solomon — Sat, 08 Dec 2007 08:00:06 -0000

Hi Ben!
I learnt a great deal through this article and the
comments ( experiences of great minds). I want to thank you all for the great sharing!
Solomon

Re: Paying Lip Service to Failure Is Not Enough

Philippe — Thu, 06 Dec 2007 03:26:24 -0000

@Stanley and Ben - There is a difference between selling a product to enterprises vs. individual consumers (or in our case, to both and to neither). When selling to enterprises, yes, insider knowledge and networking are key. When selling to enterprises and/or individual consumers, a good understanding of the user's need and perceived benefit is key.

Re: Paying Lip Service to Failure Is Not Enough

RJacobsen — Thu, 06 Dec 2007 00:13:44 -0000

My partners and I are 6 months into a start-up, and as you noted... even if we fail, the knowledge we've acquired will only make our next venture that little bit easier.

We jumped right into one of the more competitive industries, but we feel confident in our results to date. Your post is very true of our situation and many others.. I imagine.

Re: Paying Lip Service to Failure Is Not Enough

Ben Yoskovitz — Wed, 05 Dec 2007 20:22:15 -0000

@StanleyMiller: That day trader failed. Simple as that. He may also be naive - being naive and failing aren't mutually exclusive.

I do agree with your point that Phil got a great education at less than what he might have paid otherwise, and he did it in a way that makes sense - put your feet to the fire and give something a try.

I don't believe the only way to make money is by finding inefficiencies in existing markets either...

Re: Paying Lip Service to Failure Is Not Enough

referate — Wed, 05 Dec 2007 17:17:11 -0000

I remember before that doing business is an easy job but it seems that on start up it was really difficult to succeed. I have undergone failure a lot of times and thought of stopping myself for doing anything anymore. I feel devastated but after all of the things that happen I learn to value what happens to my life and I get up to the mistakes and learn from my failures. Right now I know am a better person because I learn to stand up for the failures that comes my way.

Re: Paying Lip Service to Failure Is Not Enough

Straight — Wed, 05 Dec 2007 12:06:15 -0000

I'm just starting the company on my own and I must say that I was really afraid of failure. But, after reading about some really successful people I’ve realized that, actually, their initial failures were the main reason for their success afterwards. Learning from your mistakes is best way to really learn something because you get to experience it on your own skin. Yet, I’m still afraid of that failure but in less measure.

Anyhow, pretty good article and thanks for sharing this with us.

Re: Paying Lip Service to Failure Is Not Enough

Alex — Wed, 05 Dec 2007 04:25:30 -0000

One of the great things about the spirit of silicon valley is how unstigmatized we are when we fail. In so many other places and times, you fail in business once, and you are a pariah for all time. Not here, and not now

Re: Paying Lip Service to Failure Is Not Enough

Denis Canuel — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 19:57:58 -0000

Michelle: there is a Blitzweekend coming up in early 2008. It's going to be very similar.