I’ve been an entrepreneur for almost 30 years. I’ve founded or co-founded a lot of companies in that time. I’ve taught and mentors hundreds of entrepreneurs in the last decade. I’m a lifelong learner and am constantly finding and reading more advice to make entrepreneurs’ lives easier, including my own.
There is no shortage of startup advice. The trouble is, a lot of this advice comes from highly successful entrepreneurs. Especially those who hit it big on their first startup.
The trouble with their advice? They don’t know why they succeeded. They don’t know why others fail.
Most of the learning on how to create successful startups comes from experiencing or analyzing the failure stories. Far more is learned from failure than success. Step back far enough and it’s obvious why that is true. Failed startups are those with a series of mistakes or hurdles they can’t overcome. Successful startups are those with a series of mistakes or hurdles with just enough good luck and good decisions to keep going. Going until there is a long enough string of good luck to call the company a success.
