culture of failure

Filed in archive Entrepreneurship on March 2, 2004

Ventureblog links to this older but nevertheless very actual piece from Ross Mayfield.

"Having failed once or twice is a very normal and healthy thing to go through," says Roger Lee, a private investor in Friendster. "It would be virtually impossible for an entrepreneur to go through their career unscathed.

If you weren't doing something risky and interesting during the bubble you missed more than an opportunity for wealth creation. Most people learned more in those fast years than they did in their entire career. The perspective gained of going through boom and bust at the least teaches you where you are in the cycle and what decisions matter. I can't imagine how any manager who went through it would not recognize past mistakes and false incentives (eyeballs instead of revenue, etc.). Part of an effective culture of failure is when people are recognized for conviction. Entreprenuers who continue to march on today have lived through some hard knocks and work within the constraints of market reality. Those who don't left a long time ago -- and good riddance."