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On the one hand, the article can be depressing - each fallout is a dream that died. On the other hand, one of the things that makes the Valley succeed is it's

On the one hand, the article can be depressing - each fallout is a dream that died. On the other hand, one of the things that makes the Valley succeed is it's capacity to celebrate failure. A mistake? What did you learn? Now move on! Companies that facilitate this are part of what makes for such a healthy eco-system. Compare this to Japan - much of their lost decade(s?) was caused by an inability to accept failure, and shut down unproductive firms.

grimen 15y ago
Yep, I've learned a lot by failing - I don't regret those failures (the paradox), I think I've ended up in a better position now as a cause of those failures too. Trial-n-error is the best way to learn as they say. I mentioned previous failures in a startup competition and we still won, I think it's important to mention failures.
- mathattack 15y ago
  I had two folks re-interview with me who in the past 6 months had declined offers from my firm. They both went to other firms, and massively failed. In my eyes they are now more valuable to me, not less. More maturity, humility, sense of boundaries, etc... In both cases we re-extended the initial offers.
  - svmegatron 15y ago
    You sound like a good person to work for.
jpdoctor 15y ago
> much of their lost decade(s?) was caused by an inability to accept failure, and shut down unproductive firms. Unfortunately, the systemic Japanese malaise was a failure to shut down insolvent financial firms. Kinda like the US today. (Let's face it, the VC ecosystem is mice nuts compared to the greater economy.)
- mathattack 15y ago
  In Japan it was a 2 tier issue. Insolvent (Zombie) banks were allowed to stay open. They in turn kept many insolvent companies alive. It's a testament to the strength of the Japanese that they kept the game going on for as long as they did. Of course it's not an exact analogy, but I share your concern that in the US we are trending towards a "Keep them open" mentality, rather than a "Try and try again". A recent quote from Michael Jordan has been making the rounds: (& I believe the real @ is much higher than 9000) "I've missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I've been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I've failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed."
rbanffy 15y ago
> each fallout is a dream that died Don't think like that. Consider them lessons learned. People learn how not to run businesses all the time.
- StavrosK 15y ago
  Isn't that the second half of that sentence?
  - rbanffy 15y ago
    Yeah, but don't get too attached to dreams. Or, at least, dont't confuse them with businesses. Confusing dreams and businesses lead to emotional decisions and using the word "dream" and the concept of dreams dying won't help you detach.
dools 15y ago
"On the one hand, the article can be depressing - each fallout is a dream that died. On the other hand, one of the things that makes the Valley succeed is it's capacity to celebrate failure. A mistake? What did you learn? Now move on!" The way I think about it is this: in order for the successes to occur, there have to be failures. In a lottery, it is the unsuccessful tickets that fund the winner. I'm not saying that running a business has as much to do with chance as a lottery (although there is certainly a strong element of chance) but the way I see it is that I'm taking part in an exercise and just because I don't end up the "winner" doesn't make my part less important to the exercise as a whole. I think this can be re-applied to one's whole life: you start to feel less a sense of individualism and victimisation and more like "shit just happens, let's have some fun in the meantime".

grimen 15y ago

Yep, I've learned a lot by failing - I don't regret those failures (the paradox), I think I've ended up in a better position now as a cause of those failures too. Trial-n-error is the best way to learn as they say. I mentioned previous failures in a startup competition and we still won, I think it's important to mention failures.

mathattack 15y ago
I had two folks re-interview with me who in the past 6 months had declined offers from my firm. They both went to other firms, and massively failed. In my eyes they are now more valuable to me, not less. More maturity, humility, sense of boundaries, etc... In both cases we re-extended the initial offers.
- svmegatron 15y ago
  You sound like a good person to work for.

jpdoctor 15y ago

> much of their lost decade(s?) was caused by an inability to accept failure, and shut down unproductive firms. Unfortunately, the systemic Japanese malaise was a failure to shut down insolvent financial firms. Kinda like the US today. (Let's face it, the VC ecosystem is mice nuts compared to the greater economy.)

mathattack 15y ago
In Japan it was a 2 tier issue. Insolvent (Zombie) banks were allowed to stay open. They in turn kept many insolvent companies alive. It's a testament to the strength of the Japanese that they kept the game going on for as long as they did. Of course it's not an exact analogy, but I share your concern that in the US we are trending towards a "Keep them open" mentality, rather than a "Try and try again". A recent quote from Michael Jordan has been making the rounds: (& I believe the real @ is much higher than 9000) "I've missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I've been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I've failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed."

rbanffy 15y ago

> each fallout is a dream that died Don't think like that. Consider them lessons learned. People learn how not to run businesses all the time.

StavrosK 15y ago
Isn't that the second half of that sentence?
- rbanffy 15y ago
  Yeah, but don't get too attached to dreams. Or, at least, dont't confuse them with businesses. Confusing dreams and businesses lead to emotional decisions and using the word "dream" and the concept of dreams dying won't help you detach.

dools 15y ago

"On the one hand, the article can be depressing - each fallout is a dream that died. On the other hand, one of the things that makes the Valley succeed is it's capacity to celebrate failure. A mistake? What did you learn? Now move on!" The way I think about it is this: in order for the successes to occur, there have to be failures. In a lottery, it is the unsuccessful tickets that fund the winner. I'm not saying that running a business has as much to do with chance as a lottery (although there is certainly a strong element of chance) but the way I see it is that I'm taking part in an exercise and just because I don't end up the "winner" doesn't make my part less important to the exercise as a whole. I think this can be re-applied to one's whole life: you start to feel less a sense of individualism and victimisation and more like "shit just happens, let's have some fun in the meantime".