

If your startup succeeds, do you use the resulting web traffic to promote your earlier failed startups? - amichail

Or do you trust that your failed startups were evaluated fairly and just give up on them?<p>It's hard to give up on failed startups in cases where a lot of effort was involved and/or you still think your idea is quite clever/novel.<p>Perhaps people impressed with your successful startup might look at your previous attempts more seriously.
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SwellJoe
This is an odd philosophy. When I give up on something, I really give up on
it. It is dead to me.

I think it's a symptom of small thinking for your current startup...the one
that is succeeding. Why would you distract yourself and your customers and
your media coverage from a winner and direct it all back towards a loser?

I'm not saying it's impossible to have left behind something worth pursuing.
Maybe you did give up too soon, or maybe you had to choose an expedient path
rather than pursuing something harder. I don't know. But, if you have caught a
wave, now is not the time to try to scope out other waves. There are always
new waves on the horizon, but you'll never get to shore if you don't ride one
out.

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amichail
Is it not the case that some startups require that you already have a
reputation of success for them to succeed?

Would many people have taken twitter seriously if its founders were unknowns?

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SwellJoe
Would many people have taken Blogger seriously if its founders were unknowns?
Yes, it seems they would.

You're asking us to know something that is impossible to know. But, I've met
Evan, I've read the story of Blogger, and I've heard him talk four or five
times about his history with all of his companies. I don't think I would ever
bet against him, regardless of whether people take him seriously or not.

And, of course, Evan was _finished_ with Blogger before he embarked on other
things. Twitter wasn't an old company that he revived after selling Blogger to
Google. It was something new. He tried other things along the way, and when
they failed or didn't succeed the way he'd hoped, he moved past them and tried
something new. He's practically a poster child for doing the opposite of what
you're suggesting.

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dryicerx
Seems like a bad idea, doing so might put the already successful one in
jeopardy.

I would say a better option would be, if possible and compatible, to merge the
technology, research and already done work from the previous one to the
current one. I know this is not possible always, but if it is.

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andhapp
I would like to argue this, as if a project fails does not mean that it was a
bad idea. It could have failed because of bad timing, lack of experience and
so on...if one thinks it is a good idea and has the passion for it, then no
harm in giving it a shot...

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quellhorst
I use the success to launch new projects, not earlier failed projects.

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octane
Simple answer - it depends on why your earlier startups failed.

