How do you handle start-up failure?

I think in our society we make way too big a deal of failure. You started a company and it didn’t work out, so what? Massive corporations fail every day. Nobody calls their CEO or other executives failures because the business idea was not exactly right for the times or because those executives had better things to do with their time and talent. If you are going to live your best life, you have to drop the idea of success and failure. It’s all learning. You have nothing to be ashamed of or to apologize for. I’m on my sixth business, and I don’t think of any of the others as failures. How could those earlier businesses be failures? They taught me everything I know. They employed and served amazing people and expanded my comfort zone.

If your startup fails, that's fine; you're not alone. Spend some time reflecting on what happened and what you can learn from it. Seek guidance from individuals you can trust. It is critical to recognize that making mistakes is natural and does not exclude future success. Take care of oneself and appreciate minor victories to maintain a cheerful attitude. If you're ready, you can try again with a fresh idea and apply what you've learned. Connect with other entrepreneurs, continue to learn, and remain open to new prospects.

Nobody cares if you fail, if you don’t quit after it. People only judge quitters. Failure is not feared in startups, it's celebrated. Almost all successful founders I know have had multiple failures before launching their successful business. Quitting is not an option for successful founders.

Oh ye, failures… Been there done that. It's part of the job. Not only in start-up companies but in any company. The main thing is to stay on tracks. Don't fall, don't try to hide it – face it and try to learn how to better next time.

I realized how vital it was to face the realities while I was dealing with a startup failure. I once found myself dealing with the fallout from a failed endeavour, and I came to the conclusion that avoiding or avoiding responsibility just delayed the process of recovering and growing from the experience. In my experience, accepting the truth of the circumstance and taking responsibility for what went wrong was a crucial move. I was able to start the process of accepting the failure by objectively evaluating the errors committed, the blunders taken, and the external circumstances at play. I was able to digest my feelings more efficiently, gain insight from the experience, and eventually apply that information to drive future initiatives.

I've had more startups go down in flames than I can count. But after each failure, I analyzed every detail of what went wrong and why, from poor product-market fit to mediocre marketing. Then I picked the brains of fellow fallen founders who could relate to my battle scars (through a very good Facebook group). I extracted the golden lessons from each failure. Today I fondly call my failed startups my "professional scars". I learned to choose co-founders as carefully as a spouse. And when launching anything new, to obsess over customer insights, not what I assume they want. My advice? View failure as tuition paid for an invaluable education. Let it push your limits and forge you into a wiser founder prepared to handle anything.

Handling startup failure can be challenging, but it's important to approach it with a resilience and a growth mindset. 1. Reflect on lessons learned, seek feedback from mentors, and consider pivoting or exploring new opportunities. 2. Take care of your mental and emotional well being, and use the experience to grow stronger 💪 and wiser for future endeavours. Always remember, failure is often a stepping stone to success 😊

It’s only people who do work or try something different who fail. So appreciate your failures, it’s all part of the process of building an organisation and company. Startup’s and innovations are all about trying- failing- learning from it - redoing it. it is always full of iterations and reiterations. That is the nature of the beast so no need to get disheartened by failures. Treat your failures like gold and learn from them. Be careful not to repeat the same mistakes. Find advisors and mentors who can help you understand your failures and learn from them. Very often you are trying to do a lot of things at once and it appears chaotic but if vision is clear you will find your path slowly and surely.

First thing is, it is only an outright failure if you learn nothing from it. Understand that failure is usually a launchpad to greatness, it depends on how you view it and handle it. First accept it and come to a period of clarity with yourself, then ask yourself why it failed and what you could have done better. To show you how important failure is, a great deal of investors will rather invest in a Founder who has tried and failed and moved on to another startup as a 2nd time Founder than a first time Founder, who has zero experience. Read that again; slowly too.

Being an entrepreneur, the excitement is in the ‘what problem to solve’ and being obsessed with it. You come with certain innate confidence that the ‘how to solve’ can be ascertained over time with the right resources (people, technology and money). This inherently is fraught with an equal mix of success and failure. Dealing with them with equanimity is key to sustained growth.

Present failures in business does not mean future failures. Do take the lessons and prepare yourself for the next big thing. So basically, you need to live to fight another day. If you neglect your well being and growth; it will be difficult to have a healthy mindset or be in the right frame of mind when the next opportunity comes (you may also have to actively seek it).

Taking care of oneself can be challenging, and the first step is embracing self-love and acceptance. Break free from limiting beliefs such as 'I do not deserve' or 'I am not good enough' that hinder your journey. It's time to bid farewell to old, self-limiting stories and embark on a journey of self-care and empowerment.

In dealing with start-up failures, I've learned self-care is crucial. Failure affects not just work but also mental and physical health, leading to stress or lost motivation. It's essential not to let failure define you. Self-care, like healthy eating, adequate sleep, exercise, and enjoyable activities, is key for mental and emotional recovery. This helps me bounce back stronger, ready for new challenges.

The most important thing to do is to separate emotions and look at the very failure objectively. That way you can survive it with grace and have more wisdom and clarity for your next venture.

A painful startup failure actually became a trigger event for me to mature and start separating work from life (I still mix them up sometimes, to be honest). When you realize you may lose something you've built for a few years, and now you need to start from scratch, it is easy to fall victim to thinking about the lost opportunities, the immense effort and time you will need to recover financially, etc. This is the best time to realize you will need your sane mind, healthy body, and quality relations to stand up and continue chasing your vision and dreams.

Being involved in a start up requires the entrepreneur to learn many skills that were not part of the "great idea" the start up was built around. These new found skills will lead to new areas that will be available in your next venture.

Como Mentor en startups, he visto tanto éxitos arrolladores como fracasos estrepitosos. Y una y otra vez, los emprendedores más resilientes son aquellos que tras duros tropiezos son capaces de reinventarse con una propuesta refrescada. Un ejemplo concreto es el fundador de una startup educativa que no logró el producto/mercado fit. Tras un período de duelo y aprendizaje, descubrió una nueva oportunidad en corporate training apalancando parte de su expertise edtech previo. Este nuevo enfoque resultó mucho más escalable. La capacidad de pivotar, de expandir nuestra apertura mental para identificar nuevos caminos tras encontrarnos en una encrucijada, es parte integral del ADN emprendedor.

Transformer ses échecs en opportunités. Des obstacles barrent la route et nous forcent à réfléchir autrement. Accueillir les échecs n'est pas chose facile. Accepter que le chemin nous mette sur une voie difficile qu'on avait pas imaginé et à laquelle nous devons faire face. Dans les échecs il y a toujours une part d'apprentissage. Je vais par exemple explorer de nouvelles pistes en m'appuyant sur les personnes de confiance avec lesquelles je peux échanger et cela me permet de voir la situation sous un autre angle. Finalement cet échec me permet de tester un autre aspect du marché auquel je n'avais pas pensé au départ et avec du recul cela me permet de gagner de l'expérience. Transformer ses échecs en opportunités et garder un mental fort.

Create a vision before starting a new project. Use it to map out your business plan, as it will provide clarity. Think about the future and be inspired by it. Down to earth and shooting for the stars simultaneously. What objectives do you intend for your startup to achieve? Where will your company be in the coming months and two years? The vision shall serve as a guiding principle for this endeavor. Your business plan must be evident in the execution and comprehensive, as it is a highly effective tool for motivating yourself and the initial team. In my experience, most of the time, the strategy was brilliant, but if the execution is not on the same standards, then failure is inevitable.

Be mindful of what you label a failure can just be a detour or way to pivot while you adjust your goals and align to your north star. Startup is an adventurous journey and there is no way you what happens next. Just make sure you are well prepared physically and mentally to deal with whatever comes your way

My startups may have crashed and burned, but in each one, I found glimmers of success worth celebrating. Even if your baby unicorn turns into a donkey overnight, don't overlook those small wins. Appreciate every customer you delighted, the lesson you learned, and the personal growth you unlocked. Reflect on the journey itself - you dared to chase a dream few have the guts to. And for a brief, blissful moment you captured startup magic before the burdens of scale hit. Let your achievements, however humble, remind you and inspire others that failure contains the seeds of growth. No milestone is too minor to commemorate and build upon. So celebrate any progress made - then dust yourself off to try again. Your next venture awaits.

Como mentor de startups, considero que uno de los aprendizajes más importantes tras el fracaso de un emprendimiento es cultivar la gratitud por las pequeñas victorias y momentos de flow en el camino, no solo el destino final. Un ejemplo concreto es una emprendedora en el rubro de retail que tuvo que cerrar sus 3 tiendas luego de la pandemia. Si bien fue un golpe emocional y financiero duro, al reflexionar se conectó con lo orgullosa que estaba de su servicio al cliente extraordinario, o la alegría de ver su marca en una revista local. Enfocarse en celebrar esos logros incrementales, desde su primera venta hasta empleados que pudieron solventar la universidad de sus hijos, le dio una perspectiva de abundancia frente a la escasez.

Don't let the failure of your previous startup discourage you from starting again. This is the reality of life in our personal and business affairs for most of us.  It will be difficult, but remember that evolution created the entirety of all sentient life on earth using only one tool: the mistake.

I strongly believe that situations labeled as "failures" always lead to growth for everyone involved. As mentioned earlier, the practice of a Retrospective involves a dedicated moment to reflect on what went well - not only what could have been done differently. Within this process were surely situations of invaluable and positive learning and evolution, especially when you were confronted by significant challenges. It's crucial to recognize these elements and the effect they had on you, even when the cloud of failure tries to shadow your mind. Take a close look at your personal and professional self, and you'll undoubtedly observe a transformed individual. Be proud of this evolution – you've earned it!

At the end of the day it’s all about our emotion, whatever name you give it like motivation, commitment, accountability. Some simple strategies might be useful to withstand the immediate shock of startup failure are 1. Have confidence on yourself and on your idea. Confidence comes from your love for and attachment with your Startup business. Rather than pondering upon the failure, try to celebrate your success and the small achievements 2. Communicate freely with your peers, mentors and family members. Always believe that there is at least one solution to each problem, but normally there are multiple problems with every solution… so, you are at a better position. Just face the challenge and make things happen to make it a success

Having been inside three startups 25 years ago, you have to love the nature of this beast. The first thing I learned that failure IS how we learn. We were taught failure is a bad thing. Not the best belief we’ve developed over time. Choose the startup life, for all that it is; and all that it isn’t. It takes a certain love of chaos, evolving into clarity. You live changing hats! Choose it, or let it go. It’s all up to each of us to say. So … I loved it … and came back for more.

Failure is the best teacher! Reflecting on why one failed, analyzing what worked and what did not and learning from those would be an excellent way to prepare for the next steps. A disciplined practice of writing a gratitude journal every morning will help in making meaningful and intentional reflections. Additionally, writing regularly bolsters one’s thinking and refines one’s values and worldviews.

Look around. Anything worth doing has a 0.1% chance of success. There is hardly any merit in looking at the world in binaries - success vs failure, good vs bad. A recent success story - Instacart - its founder Apoorva had tried his hands on 20 startups. Having said that, one has to be cautious about failure. You could do nothing and still fail. Make sure you are not at this end of the spectrum. Failure counts when you are almost almost successful.

Gratitude is probably one of the most important and successful methods for keeping one's brain healthy and fit with the nervous system. The studies by Prof. Martin Seligman have shown the incredible influence that Positive Psychology has on, for example, depression or other illnesses. Taking a moment each evening to sit in silence and reflect on what one is grateful for simply changes everything—for the better.

A lot of people talk about work - life balance. Startup owners realize it's not that. They know that struggle today is the life tomorrow.

Mindset to overcome Failure Failures in life are inevitable. You already know it to some levels but it is hard to go through one. When you are shooting for the moon there are 99% chance you will miss. Everyone around you may say, I told you so earlier. But focus on that 1% that 1 shot which will actually hit the moon. And 1 shot is enough in your lifetime. So when you fail, - Take your time - Dust your self up - Be around family And try again.

Start-ups fail. That’s part of the game. It’s how you learn from your mistakes and failures that will help you in your future. When you get up the courage to do it again. There are very few successful VC’s, founders, and executives whose path to success isn’t littered with multiple large failures that paved the way for their wins!

Startups fail not because the strategy is missing. Overcoming failure in a startup needs complete review and patience. Each decision needs scrutiny, courage, and conviction. One can avoid failure in startup by taking the following steps. 1. Be aware of your resources. 2. Be aware of your spending, earning and investing style. 3. Don't try to be unicorn overnight. 4. Don't try to miss the steps and capture the market by giving freebies. 5. Let your startup build then you allocate funds for expansion. 6. Never go for expansion without intervention and invention. 7. Build, to yield. To build you need the shield of great customer care, delivery, excellence etc. "More importantly, ethics, and integrity, bring sovereignty"

Change your perspective on failure. And yes that's eaiser said than done, but I believe it's crucial. Failure is apart of the process, it's how you learn what works and what doesn't. Nowhere else in life do we expect to get everything right the first time. You have to practice, attempt, adjust, and then go again. You should seek failure as fast as possible. Figure out what's working, what's not, and then adjust. Failure isn't a reflection on you, it's just the next step in the journey.

That is why we call them startups because you never know how it will go! Don't take the failure as a personal failure. Go back to all the steps, processes, biggest decisions, and relationships. Take time to write notes, and reflect on them. And don't forget that you took those decisions with the best ability you could. Now, let's try again!