[einhverfr]

One thing that's really bothered me about this narrative. My business has tried lots and lots of things. Most fail. A few succeed. Some fail because of issues getting the right people together. Some fail because the ideas aren't as viable as I thought. Some fail because I don't have the ability to position them. However, the path to success really is littered with failures. This can put stress on a marriage, etc. However, it is important for everyone in a business of any sort to recognize that there will be way more failures than successes.

Also I think every new business fails before it succeeds.

I would expect those with more life experience to get this lesson more often than the young people who have not yet experienced the intimate relationship between success and failure. If I were an angel investor and some day I might be able to be, I'd look much more at how founders saw failures than what their ages were.

[mikeleeorg]

I'd look much more at how founders saw failures than what their ages were.

Great point. A failure in itself is not as valuable as the lesson learned from that failure.

[einhverfr]

It's not just the lessons learned from it. It's how you conceptualize of failure and how you work your way through it to success. Sometimes failure doesn't happen because you make a mistake. Sometimes it is a natural phase on the way towards success.

When I am asked about starting a business, the first piece of advice I give is "your business will fail. It will run out of money. If you want it to succeed you have to be prepared to run it for a while after it has failed."