

Become a better entrepreneur by failing completely - davidechen
http://dechen.posterous.com/become-a-better-entrepreneur-by-failing-compl

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tjmaxal
Every time I read an article about how great failure is I want to scream ONLY
IF IT LEADS TO SUCCESS. and the only way to know if it does is
retrospectively. I think the bigger take away from these article is really
keep trying.

~~~
akd
Failure can be great even if it never leads to success. Several people I've
known have started a business with their own money, failed horribly, and never
started another. But it gave them perspectives they never had before, and most
importantly they worked the rest of their careers knowing that they had tried
their best, and just weren't the right person at the right place at the right
time to succeed.

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tjmaxal
I would say that is a kind of success

------
edo
A true entrepreneur never permits himself alibis to fail.

Excuse yourself by falling back on the theorem that failing is good,

and you will never have the determination to push through those moments where
success seems impossible.

Forget this notion that failure is good. Only remember it after you have, in
fact, failed. Not before.

~~~
davidechen
By true entrepreneur, do you mean someone born to be an entrepreneur? Are all
successful self-made business owners true entrepreneurs?

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davidechen
If you've started a "practice startup" before your real startup... What was it
and how did it help you?

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jms
I did that when I was younger - I started a company for the experience. Can
you guess what I got out of it? Experience! (and not much else)

Now I focus on making money, solving problems, changing the world.

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samd
According to research cited in 37 Signals' Rework entrepreneurs that have
failed previously are no more likely to succeed again than first-time
entrepreneurs.

I think far too much business and start-up advice is nothing more than
anecdotes and personal experience, none of it backed by hard numbers. (Rework
is no exception.) Are there any books out there where people did actual
research to back up their advice?

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davidechen
Here's a Harvard Business School research paper that suggests that in certain
kinds of venture-backed startups, those who have failed before have a slightly
higher rate of success.

<http://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/6045.html>

~~~
jimfl
It's like surfing. You have to paddle like hell to get to where the wave is
going to be, then be standing on the board at just the right time. Once you've
missed a few waves, you have a better idea of the timing.

There's a lot of things that have to line up to make a startup successful:
vision, market, funding, and talent. Believe it or not, the market and the
funding are likely to be more forgiving of previous failure than the talent.

~~~
davidechen
I like that.

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pier0
Failing as a characteristic of entrepreneurial success is way overrated in my
opinion. I've failed, but that has only helped me becoming a better person,
not a better entrepreneur.

~~~
davidechen
Interesting opinion.

I guess I make an assumption here that becoming a better person by developing
credibility & confidence helps you as an entrepreneur. Would you agree this
may be the case for some young entrepreneurs?

~~~
pier0
I actually think that the younger you start an as entrepreneur the more
influence this has on you on becoming a person.

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necrecious
Failing may make you slightly better equipped the next time. The most
important thing is to keep trying.

If you've got a 10% chance of making it each time, just keep trying 22 times
and you'll success 90% of the time.

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ct
how'd u come up with 22? or are you just being facetious?

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necrecious
.9 ^ 22 is 0.098

therefore the chance of you trying 22 times and failing each time is around
10%.

therefore the chance of you succeeding in 22 tries is 90%.

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thefreak03
failure is part of success.. check out Steve Jobs..

