[tptacek]

Most startups fail, and you should be so lucky as to have one fail quickly and decisively. It's like landing on Free Parking in Monopoly.

[apgwoz]

> It's like landing on Free Parking in Monopoly.

I have no clue what you’re trying to convey with this analogy? “Free Parking” is different in virtually every household.

[tptacek]

I was not thinking about random house rules in the analogy.

[toast0]

Standard rules free parking is a no-op; you get nothing and pay nothing. It just prolongs the inevitable.

[tptacek]

Yes, that's what I was referring to.

[apgwoz]

But then this analogy doesn’t hold… Has there ever been a startup in history where it’s break even everywhere? Investors don’t get their money back, customers (hopefully!) are made whole, and the founders and employees are now out of a job and _perhaps_ didn’t get their final pay check depending on how bad it is.

[tptacek]

Yeah, you're missing my point. Given most startups fail, the question isn't "at the end of the day do you still get a paycheck for your failed startup", it's "how much of your life did you burn on that failed startup".

Since we're talking about a specific startup whose founders are participants here, I think we can do without the ghoulish stuff about them not making payroll or whatever; "winding down" implies they're failing in an orderly way.