
Startup failures are only a matter of point of view - thomasthelliez
https://thomasthelliez.com/blog/2019/12/06/startup-failures-are-only-a-matter-of-point-of-view/
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asdfman123
This article proposes thinking of yourself as a neural network learning
something.

Funny enough, I find pretending I'm a self-driving car helps remove my ego
while driving. Someone wants to speed up to cut me off? I'm not going to get
angry. I'm a self-driving car algorithm, and I only care about doing the
safest, most predictable thing.

It looks incredibly silly when I write it out like that but it actually helps
to think that way.

~~~
npo9
I have another way of dealing with road rage. I am overly empathetic and give
everyone the benefit of the doubt.

Someone cuts me off in traffic? Whoa, they must be in a hurry to take a risk
like that. I wonder if they have a very important meeting.

~~~
KineticLensman
I take the view that all other drivers are potentially an off-duty policeman,
a mad axe murderer who knows where I live or a confused little old lady.

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OnlineGladiator
I agree with the notion of learning from your mistakes, but it's so
disingenuous I'd call it bullshit to say it's not a failure. The startup
failed. That doesn't mean you're a failure. But don't sugarcoat what happened
for the sake of your feelings. If you can't even admit it's a failure, you're
not likely to learn from your failures.

Yes, I realize there is a lot of semantics in my point, but I just fucking
hate sanitizing communication. Be direct. Be transparent. Say what you mean.
Don't turn it into some feel-good what-a-wonderful-journey bullshit.

~~~
kick
_Is_ it a failure?

"Had fun, blew a whole load of VC money!" doesn't sound like a bad time to me,
personally, a person who is fully aware that statement is going to reflect
poorly on my record.

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dmarlow
So that was the goal then?

~~~
naringas
live well another day?

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quirkot
If a startup is trying to create economic value, then there is no point of
view. You either made money or you did not.

If the real startup is the friends we made along the way while spending
investor cash, then sure.

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staticassertion
Are most startups created for economic value? That doesn't track with me at
all, as a founder, and having talked with many others.

Most are doing it because it's just their kinda work, that's how they like to
operate.

~~~
quirkot
I guess my questions would be

1\. "what exactly do these founders believe they are starting up?"

2\. "if they aren't trying to create a sustainable business, how could they
recruit employees with a clear conscience?"

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Ozzie_osman
Yes, we should try to learn from our failures, but this article overlooks the
very real emotional and economic damage that can happen to early-stage
founders and employees (and their families/friends). Even when trying to view
failures as learning opportunities.

Source: I've been a part of many early stage startups, am working on one right
now, and have many close friends who have done the same.

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tiborsaas
It's indeed a point of view. If I factor in the opportunity cost of my
failures it's even greater and harsher.

The article paints is a hooray-optimist view of praising failure as learning
which might help someone who just folded its dream startup, but offers no
revelation.

It also fails to mention that you can keep trying as long as you have money.
Few privileged people can spend its life trying to build startups and fail
constantly.

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jsjolen
That failure can be a teachable moment is well-known and is applicable in all
aspects of life, it is not particularly interesting to read about that in this
specific context. In some ways, it is also insulting.

For some there are real-world (often financial) consequences to failure, and
that an article about why their egos shouldn't be bruised when facing a
failure is the least of their worries.

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thinkingkong
The key is failing successfully. Try hard. Ask lots of questions. Be humble.
After all of that you can still fail.

“It is possible to commit no mistakes and still lose. That is not a weakness.
That is life".

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papito
No one should be proud of failing and learning from their own mistakes if they
did not bother learning from the mistakes of others first.

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zackmorris
I've been struggling with motivation in recent months so have been writing
todo lists as a way to stay on task. One technique that has been helping is to
write all steps, even when I don't know how to do some of them yet. Normally I
do the opposite and only start working after I've solved the entire problem in
my head (which sounds crazy but worked up until I hit 40 and bigger life
questions added too much distraction).

Anyway, what if some failures are unavoidable? Like, what if some things are
external to what you can anticipate or accomplish? For example, here is a todo
list for a typical startup:

1) Learn the tools so you can make stuff

2) Optionally find a handful of teammates with similar interests or pain
points to help

3) Get funding

4) Work on your startup for 6 months to 2 years

5) Get traction by hard sells or going viral

6) Scale by improving the product, adding employees, etc

7) Exit and move on to the next startup or retire with millions of dollars

There is currently no solution for steps 3 or 5. The rest of the steps are
straightforward and done by most software developers in one form or another
dozens of times over a career (except for 7 obviously). Most people on the
outside only see steps 2, 6 and 7 so have a distorted view of the startup
process because those tend to be the easiest steps or take care of themselves
after the startup acquires a life of its own. On top of that, they may only
dream about startups because step 1 tends to depend on demographics. Step 4
(the part we care about because it’s our lifestyle so we’d almost do it for
free) tends to be the least important, but also the riskiest because your idea
will manifest when someone else does it after the 2 years window of
opportunity passes.

So as far as I can tell 20 years into my career, until we solve steps 3 and 5,
startup failure will hover around 90% or more. Learning from mistakes only
eats away slightly at that number, perhaps by giving people more of what they
want in step 5, or expanding your professional network for steps 2 and 7. So
the smart thing to do is play it safe contracting or working for companies,
never accomplishing anything of any importance other than making rent or
raising children like humans have done for thousands of years.

So since it’s Friday, I’d like to put out a thought to meditate on that maybe
we should be trying to make a startup to solve startups, along the same lines
as what Y Combinator is doing.

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sirspacey
In theory, yes. In practice, startups fail for common reasons. If you want to
start a company, talk to every startup founder you can about their experience.
It really is a different life path.

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mrosett
I get the point, but this is pretty heavy on cliches.

Also, when a startup fails, a bunch of people lose their jobs and have to
scramble to get their lives back on track. If an entrepreneur walks away from
that saying "That wasn't a failure becayse I learned a lot!" they kind of come
off as a sociopath.

