

We haven’t failed, but successfully shown it doesn’t work - wspruijt
http://thenextweb.com/entrepreneur/2011/06/10/we-havent-failed-but-successfully-shown-it-doesnt-work/?awesm=tnw.to_192fc&utm_content=spreadus_master&utm_medium=tnw.to-other&utm_source=direct-tnw.to

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wccrawford
This whole 'we didn't fail' thing is just feel-good nonsense.

While they did indeed 'show that it doesn't work', they failed to create a
company, and they failed to produce money for their investors. Those investors
aren't saying 'Well, that was money well spent.' They are saying 'That was a
failure.'

The fact that they are willing to invest again is a tribute to the company's
handling of the situation and apparently technical know-how, not a sign that
the investors are happy with the outcome.

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BorisBomega
As mentioned in the post "Of course we would have preferred it if the solution
would have been perfect, but at least we had the chance to give it a try"...

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petervandijck
And how is that not failing?

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BorisBomega
When you fall you've failed at walking. But we all know that this is part of
learning to walk. We can focus on the fail or on the process or learning. You
obviously only see the fail.

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Retric
Failure is not just a setback. A doctor has no problem saying if a child
failed to learn X by Y age there may be a problem. That said there are ranges
of failure, and handing money back to investors before you completely run out
is a better option than running a company into the ground with nothing to show
for it.

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Wilya
I find it a little bit strange that they didn't realize their solution didn't
work _before_ lauching and getting funding.

A business idea, or a consumer product can fail or succeed depending on many
parameters. But a spam filter is a technical part. There are metrics that can
clearly tell you whether it works or not.

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grannyg00se
Failure with some positive spin is still failure. The word failure shouldn't
be something to hide from. Embrace the fact that you tried and failed in a not
so horrible way. It's still failure. And failure can be good.

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bennoleslie
The way in which the failed product was handled is impressive, but I'm left
wondering if there are any more details on the approach that failed?

Sharing why a given approach doesn't work could save others with the same
technical idea from wasting time and money trying to turn the same idea into a
product.

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fmavituna
Sorry, but you've failed and it's much more productive to accept that.

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bproper
This post is a fail

