

What if entrepreneurs never fail? - Nebyl

As an entrepreneur myself, I live under the pressure of failing my startup everyday. And I think I have a solution to beat this feeling by a concrete service. 
What if there is a service I can offer you to work and focus on your own startup, without fearing failing it? It&#x27;s a new startup idea I&#x27;m working on, and I&#x27;d like your feed back on it. Is it worth it for you? would you apply for such a service?
Thank you for your answers and feedback.
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MalcolmDiggs
Well, what's failure?

If failure is the total loss of an entrepreneur's own capital, then VCs and
Angels already do this. They (in some cases) completely insulate the
entrepreneur from losing his/her own capital in the business.

If failure is the lack of a return, or the lack of profitability, then I would
expect any service to lie on the typical risk/reward curve associated with all
financial instruments. That is: if your service eliminates all risk, it
_should_ also eliminate all reward greater than whatever T-bills are
returning.

So it's hard to imagine what kind of service you could be talking about.

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Nebyl
Hi Everyone and thank you all for your thoughts, it is nice to hear different
perspective from fellow hackers.

I'll try to summarize all the answers to your questions in one post. First of
all, I'll begin by defining failure in this particular context. It will be the
loss of your capital and incomes that are all based on your startup. The fear
behind it is not to be able to provide for itself or its own family and loved
ones.

To pursue in the idea itself, it's a financial service based on a business
model inspired from the shared economy concept. It is going to be an
additional service that an incubator can offer but definitely not replace it,
and unfortunately I can't disclose more information for now as I'm still
waiting to close the legal part of this model.

The image davismwfl described made me really laugh, because he's right, it is
awfully too good to be true :) but please bear with me, and allow me to earn
your trust, at least in this topic :)

Thank you all again.

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nsitoula
Frankly speaking, I think you need to throw some more light on the 'service'
you are talking about. As an entrepreneur and/or a probable customer, I want
to understand what your service/offering is and how it will help me mitigate
the risks associated with my venture or help me overcome the fear of failing.

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HIPAAtrek
If a startup never fails, it will never be successful. Failures (or the fear
of) are what causes us to drive forward. They are how we learn what works and
what doesn't work. Businesses must fail in order to drive innovation.
Innovation is driven by the failure of a current solution. I, personally,
would never be interested in a product or service that guarantees I wouldn't
fail; because, that would mean I am not innovative or even relevant.

Without failure, what is a success?

~~~
Nebyl
Thank you HIPAAtrek, it is really one of my main concerns. I myself failed in
my professional life, and I don't consider this as loosing money, but as an
investment in my knowledge capital.

But is it really the only way to learn? or the only way to be innovative or
even relevant as you say?

Many examples crossed my mind that contradict this, we can discuss them if you
want :)

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davismwfl
I second nsitoula's comment. I am interested but confused what you would be
offering that could help stem what I think are fairly normal feelings for any
entrepreneur.

Honestly, the image I had in my mind when I finished reading your post was an
old time snake oil salesman standing on a soap box trying to sell the magic
elixir to cure everything from boredom to cancer. Sorry, not saying you aren't
legit just sounds too good to be true kinda thing.

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phantom_oracle
Isn't this what an incubator does? It _kind of_ shields you from "going it
alone" and provides a pathway for growth by maximizing benefits and minimizing
risk?

~~~
Nebyl
Exactly, it is going to be a new layer on top of this. An additional service
that an incubator can offer.

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Mz
Not everyone does what they do to make a buck. If Einstein had failed, the
world today would be a different place. Paying him money to make him feel
better about that would not begin to make up for what the world would have
missed out on.

You are basically talking about insurance. I was in insurance and I have a
pretty low opinion of it. Insurance is billed as "risk management." It's
billed as "we will be there for you in your time of need." It would be more
honest to claim it is kind of like Las Vegas, but in order to hit the jack
pot, something really bad has to happen to you _first._ Real risk management
is about trying to make sure bad things don't happen in the first place. It
isn't about going "Oh, look, now that life has crapped all over me, I have a
big check to make my suffering seem somehow okay."

Let me respectfully suggest you go do something else. I don't see how you can
begin to value unborn dreams. How could you possibly know that Microsoft would
be worth billions until after the fact? How can you possibly tell in advance
which two guys in some basement or garage will be world changers and which
will be remembered as "losers"?

~~~
paulhauggis
"Not everyone does what they do to make a buck."

Then they aren't in business and shouldn't be called an entrepreneur.

~~~
Mz
So add one word: Not everyone does what they do _just_ to make a buck.

If money is the only reason you are in business, you probably aren't worth
buying anything from. Con artists, pyramid schemes, thieves -- those people
care about money or profit first, a whole lot of other things much less or not
at all. Business people should be trying to first add real value to the world
and second get a fair share of that value coming back to them. Otherwise, we
have lots of other less nice words for them than _entrepreneur,_ such as
_profiteer._

Have a happy holiday.

~~~
Nebyl
Hi Mz, I don't understand why you are judging an idea with such cruel words
without knowing how it works yet. And yet I'm still interested in your opinion
without having you treating me as a scam or conman. Thank you for being more
comprehensive and a little bit less accusing.

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jf22
Sounds too good to be true.

