Founders of startups that didn’t work out have potentially learned a lot of valuable knowledge. This can be very useful for future endeavors if they do it right

Founders of startups that didn’t work out have potentially learned a lot of valuable knowledge. This can be very useful for future endeavors if they do it right. On the other hand, some failed founders get a chip on their shoulder and think that their failures were only due to external factors: Bad customers, wrong investors, a bad engineering team, etc. This mindset sets people up for repeat failure. You really have to understand why their business failed and what they’re going to do differently next time. It also depends a lot on the economy. During the 2021 boom, I had several friends “exit” their failing startups via acquihires into bigger companies. One friend admitted that his total payout in the end would be less than if he had just kept a full time job during the duration of his startup, but now he gets to be a “successful startup founder with an exit”. In an economy like today’s, that’s not going to happen.