

Almost failing. - sahillavingia
http://sahillavingia.com/blog/2010/12/14/almost-failing/

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quanticle
We must also be careful not to go in the opposite direction. All too many
founders bet everything they have on an unviable business model, a solution
looking for a problem, or something equally foolhardy. Then, when the expected
revenue doesn't come about, they go all-in leveraging themselves via credit
cards and bank loans to try push their business over the top. In the end,
rather than being screwed when the business collapses, they end up _really
screwed_.

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noahlt
As the author points out, all those success stories are known because the
worked out. He then goes on to lament the companies that failed because their
founders gave up too early. But there are also companies that failed even
though their founders never gave up, and we never hear about those, either.

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lubos
Well, if you start a company and things will go way too easy for you, it's
hard not to become overconfident which will eventually lead into ultimate
failure.

so is it surprising all these great companies had difficult beginnings? not at
all, it made founders humble, which is never a bad thing.

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randall
I think the article meanders a bit, but it does provide some good starting
points for people who might not have known about how close-to-death a lot of
companies come.

<http://www.justin.tv/startupschool/b/272180383> \- Brian Chesky (AirBnB)
tells it himself.

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RyanMcGreal
The web server is failing. :/

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sahillavingia
It's loading here, albeit slowly (though I'm in Singapore right now, which
means all sites load slow!). I'll ask my host, sorry about this.

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Dylanlacey
I have to say that, if the Fedex story is true, he is one of the worst leaders
I have ever encountered.

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kmak
Survivor bias in full power here.

