Startup Failure
Startups can fail for any number of reasonsit might not be a bad idea, a lack of true innovation, or even a lack of marketing that does a company in. It can be things like poor management or market misalignment, too. One takeaway from the readings that helped me to realize this is the importance of identifying a clear market need before proceeding with a startup. In other words, if there is no need for the product or service, there is no reason to believe that the startup will succeed. Why should it? According to CB Insights, a significant portion of startups (42%) fail because there is no market need for their product or service. This insight reframed my understanding of failure: even the most innovative ideas require a market to thrive. Ben Kaufman's Quirky startup had early success, but it eventually faltered due to unsustainable profit margins and misaligned products. Products need to be aligned with the market, the demand, the consumers wants and needs, the target demographic (Entrepreneur, 2015). If there is no alignment, again, there is no reason to believe the startup will succeed.
The readings also emphasized how failure can be a learning opportunity. In Bloomberg's article, one can see that many entrepreneurs find success in their subsequent ventures after learning from previous failures. They might pursue ill-advised initiatives or just be too plain curious. Curiosity is not a bad thing in itself, but business needs to be disciplined, too. The iterative process of learning and adapting is part of what separates the winners and losers: you mail fail at first, but the road to long-term success means challenging the fear of failure that can hold many entrepreneurs back.
My perspective has changed to understand that failure should be approached constructively and positively. It should not be seen as an endpoint but rather a stepping stone to success.
