I would say there is one good thing about failure. To paraphrase an observation I've heard about why wrestling is one of the better sports to take up in high s

I would say there is one good thing about failure. To paraphrase an observation I've heard about why wrestling is one of the better sports to take up in high school: it teaches you to fight with all you have off of your back when you're literally inches away from defeat and get back up again and again and again as many times as it takes, and that's important because if there's one thing life is good at it's knocking you on your back. So I would say this: between you and some "I've always had easy successes" entrepreneur in Silicon Valley who's had the benefit of every possible advantage, who do you think learned to conserve energey, restart, take it step by step, stick to simple plans one day at time, shake off the blues, etc. - you, or pretty boy success story? Now who do you think will keep pushing in the economic funk we'll be experiencing for the next 4-6 years and who do you think will be in shock and quit when they realize that things have suddenly gotten much, much harder? I'd say your failures have taught you how to function and continue despite setbacks. That is valuable because failures are inevitable. If your "failure overcoming muscle" has atrophied due to experiencing nothing but success, it's going to be very tough times ahead. If you can deal with failure and keep going, then that means you've proven you have a strong mind - strong enough not to be shaken, strong enough to pick yourself up and keep going despite no constant positive feedback. If I was a VC, I'd probably invest in you more than somebody who had 3 successes during an economic boom.