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Failing is certainly okay. You can't achieve anything in life without trying. Or I guess you walked straight away after being born. Never tried anything that w

Failing is certainly okay. You can't achieve anything in life without trying. Or I guess you walked straight away after being born. Never tried anything that wasn't already proven. What a sad way to look at life. No risk, no reward. Unless I guess your "reward" is a life of boredom and monotony. The fun is in the doing and learning new things. That's why this type of meeting is necessary and helpful for most people that want to start their own business. Helping avoid common (and uncommon) mistakes.

Gracana 9y ago
Failing can certainly be okay, but you seem to be looking at it as only failing yourself. When your business fails, there are others who are affected as well. Employees who need paychecks, customers who relied on your goods or services, competitors who you "disrupted" who somehow have to compete with an irrational company.
- justherefortart 9y ago
  Agreed, so never try anything because it might not work out. If competitors fail because of this mythical irrational attempt at a company, that's on them. As for employees, don't take a job at any company, because it might fail. My first job out of college was at Arthur Andersen. Had roughly 58,000 employees at the time. A few partners and the government took care of that. Everything in life is a risk, if you want to live in a padded room that's fine, but some of us know the sun will still come up tomorrow. The exciting part is making that tomorrow something of your choosing. I'm more terrified of my gravestone saying "He showed up to work then retired on time. Well done." than "He tried his ass off and failed all the way to the finish line."
  - jdietrich 9y ago
    Germans have a very different risk-reward preference to Americans. A majority of the American electorate seem to tolerate at-will employment, the barest minimum of a welfare state and millions of people without healthcare. That set of values is probably part of the reason why America has such a high GDP per capita, but it's not objectively correct. German companies do take risks and do innovate, but they rarely if ever bet the entire company on a 10x or bust play. German workers enjoy very good statutory rights, but they also have a relationship of mutual trust with employers, aided by a strong and progressive trade union movement. By and large, German workers would rather take a pay cut than see a round of layoffs. Don't straw-man that position just because you disagree with it. Don't act like the Germans are terrible cowards because they value stability and security. Their society has made an entirely rational and reasonable set of choices about the rights of workers and the responsibilities of employers.

Gracana 9y ago

Failing can certainly be okay, but you seem to be looking at it as only failing yourself. When your business fails, there are others who are affected as well. Employees who need paychecks, customers who relied on your goods or services, competitors who you "disrupted" who somehow have to compete with an irrational company.

justherefortart 9y ago
Agreed, so never try anything because it might not work out. If competitors fail because of this mythical irrational attempt at a company, that's on them. As for employees, don't take a job at any company, because it might fail. My first job out of college was at Arthur Andersen. Had roughly 58,000 employees at the time. A few partners and the government took care of that. Everything in life is a risk, if you want to live in a padded room that's fine, but some of us know the sun will still come up tomorrow. The exciting part is making that tomorrow something of your choosing. I'm more terrified of my gravestone saying "He showed up to work then retired on time. Well done." than "He tried his ass off and failed all the way to the finish line."
- jdietrich 9y ago
  Germans have a very different risk-reward preference to Americans. A majority of the American electorate seem to tolerate at-will employment, the barest minimum of a welfare state and millions of people without healthcare. That set of values is probably part of the reason why America has such a high GDP per capita, but it's not objectively correct. German companies do take risks and do innovate, but they rarely if ever bet the entire company on a 10x or bust play. German workers enjoy very good statutory rights, but they also have a relationship of mutual trust with employers, aided by a strong and progressive trade union movement. By and large, German workers would rather take a pay cut than see a round of layoffs. Don't straw-man that position just because you disagree with it. Don't act like the Germans are terrible cowards because they value stability and security. Their society has made an entirely rational and reasonable set of choices about the rights of workers and the responsibilities of employers.