Before you dig in, a quick announcement: today’s issue is fueled by rage. I rarely get angry but when I do, it’s because of…a T-shirt.
Let me set the scene for you: a couple of days ago, I found myself in my city’s business neighborhood. I rarely go there because impersonal, towering glass buildings aren’t my thing. So I was very happy to discover a quaint coffee shop nestled among these ugly (sorry!) buildings.
It was perfect: the owner was a hippie with an obvious passion for coffee (especially Kenyan blends), which sparked a brief and pleasant conversation. This tiny coffee shop even had a few outdoor tables sheltered by the generous shade of a huge blossoming linden tree — the ideal refuge on a hot summer day.
But then I noticed this horrible thing and it completely ruined my zen:
Yep, a T-shirt.
I was planning to write about something else today but I switched gears when this T-shirt reminded me that I have an ax to grind with failure fetishization. Why, oh, why would you LOVE failure?
Aren’t we all going a bit overboard with what was supposed to be failure acceptance and lessons learned?
Psst, my subscribers read this before you did. Want to be the first to see analyses and roadmaps like this one? Subscribe to Ideas to Power Your Future and get them in your inbox every Thursday.
It was harmless enough in the beginning
“Failing forward” is a term coined by John C. Maxwell back in 2007, when he wrote the homonymous book. The book advocates making failure your friend but not exactly seeking out its company.
Maxwell wrote a book for people who dreaded failure and felt like giving up at the first sign of trouble. He taught them to learn from their mistakes, understand that failure is VERY likely to happen, emotionally prepare for it, and bounce back from it. You can find all the seven principles of failing forward here.
So far, so good — all common sense stuff and good advice.
But lo and behold, Silicon Valley discovered this principle and…it worked.
Failing forward and the VC-backed startup culture = a match made in heaven
Throughout the past decade, two philosophies were prevalent in the startup world: “failing forward” and “move fast and break things”. It’s not hard to figure out why these two work together and why they work for startups: the entire startup world is built on the alluring power of innovation.
You have to be the first one to launch a new product, a new feature, a new something. Because this is what attracts investor money.
Did you know that Uber has yet to turn a profit? The company was launched in 2009 and they haven’t made a profit in 14 years! But they expect to by the end of 2023. The same goes for Snap (Snapchat), Pinterest, and many other companies — and these are just the ones listed on NYSE! There are plenty more unprofitable startups that have been on the market for years.
Still, in the Silicon Valley logic, this works: investors love IPOs (or even the promise of one), and startup managers know profitability isn’t the only key to success.
But the most important reason why failing forward works in the startup culture is that you don’t fund your failures with your own money. Failure and moving fast at the risk of breaking things get much easier when your lifestyle isn’t negatively impacted by the lack of profitability.
Which begs the question:
Why do we shove Silicon Valley philosophies into poor-fit contexts?
My social media feeds are filled with two inter-connected recommendations:
- It’s super cheap and fast to try a ton of things: you’ve got AI, codeless solutions, free, freemium, or pay-as-you-go apps, and more. “It’s never been easier to launch a business” is this year’s motto.
- Fail fast and fail often until you nail it.
See the thought pattern here? It borrows from the Silicon Valley mentality and adds a luring layer of no-tech-skills-needed mumbo-jumbo. The trouble is that it forgets EVERYONE has access to the same tools. When the entry barrier is low, the growth barrier is towering.
For extra punchiness, these posts typically start with examples of famous entrepreneurs who failed a few (dozen) times until they made it BIG. And herein lies the toxicity of cherry-picking in storytelling.
This common narrative assumes causation where there’s nothing more than correlation (at best).
You don’t need to fail so you can have a big break.
There are a million other factors that influenced the success of entrepreneurs bouncing back from failure. There’s no scientifical study to show you need to fail X amount of times before you make an X-digit business.
Why the failing forward mentality is dangerous outside Silicon Valley?
The first reason is fairly obvious: you’re playing with your own money. If you run your own independently-funded business, you’re most likely relying on its profitability. You may also have employees or family depending on it.
So you may not have the luxury to fail a few times until you get it right.
Secondly, the much-touted bias for action (context be damned!) might get you launching the wrong thing, launching it too fast, or simply not putting in your best effort because you need to get your failure quota in, right?
Thirdly, Google and Meta can afford $10B experiments because they got their first product right. Money aside, a solid reputation is built on success rather than failure. Much like investors, clients are prone to throwing money at founders with a track record of success, not failure.
Lastly, my biggest qualm with failing forward is the toll it takes on mental health. Let’s be honest: failure stings. A string of failures is a string of stings. Not everyone can handle that — financially, emotionally, or mentally.
But they may think they can because they’ve been told that’s the norm. 75% of entrepreneurs are already concerned about their mental health, let’s not put them in harm’s way needlessly. I’m emphasizing this because beginner entrepreneurs are often the target audience for the “fail forward” advice and they haven’t had the chance to build a resistance to the up and downs of the business world yet.
Accept failure but don’t embrace it
Yes, there’s a middle ground. There’s a strong chance that failure will be part of your entrepreneurial journey — this is the part the social media choir of failure apostles gets right. The sooner you accept that, the better.
But don’t go running towards it. Don’t move fast KNOWING that you will break things. Enjoy the freedom of NOT having to answer to investors. You don’t need to race against the clock and half-ass everything.
How to avoid failure
…unless it’s your ultimate fantasy. Then, by all means, skip this section
First, let’s get one thing out of the way:
Mistakes are NOT failures
You will make a ton of mistakes. This doesn’t mean you have failed.
- Used a channel that didn’t work out for you? That’s a mistake and it’s entirely fixable.
- Botched the copy for an ad? Again, fixable mistake.
- Sent an email with the wrong subject line? Don’t sweat it, it happens.
Of course, these mistakes can add up and lead to a failed business. But you’re not there yet — not until you’re certain that you can’t reach the success YOU were hoping for.
Because success is very subjective. A six-figure business can mean utter failure to some and the epitome of success to others. Build your own metrics and your own goals, don’t let the hive mind set them for you.
Don’t forego experimenting
Play with various channels, test, experiment, then mercilessly cut what’s not working for you. Yes, even if others swear by a tactic or other.
There’s no one-size-fits-all in strategy.
A failed experiment doesn’t mean a failed business. Failing to experiment might.
Build a strategy
This is the biggest mistake I see business owners make. They rely on growth hacks and hearsay to stitch together a half-baked plan because they half expect to fail. It’s the norm, right?
I wrote about the importance of building a marketing strategy and how to do it right here. Take a couple of days to commit everything to paper. Set realistic goals and expectations, create an implementation calendar, and follow it.
Don’t play it by ear. Set a destination for your business and use your documented (!) strategy as the GPS to reach it in the fastest possible way.
If you’re unclear on how to do that, I can help. Book a 1:1 strategy session with me and let’s get those GPS coordinates right.
Ask your audience before you start building
So you’ve got this great idea for a product. You’re fairly certain it’s going to work.
Before you get to work, let’s strengthen that certainty: ask your audience. Do it to save yourself a ton of time and money. Make sure there’s a real need for what you’re building.
Do it in an email campaign, through a poll, on social media — the options are endless. The best channel is the one that you’re going to use for selling, so choose it independently of what others are doing.
You can use SparkToro to kick off your audience research or even inform what your next product/service should be.
“What’s the worst thing that could happen?” is a great question to ask. It will make you comfortable with failure but, ideally, not comfortable enough to prevent you from running the other way. Business health, much like mental health, is all about balance.
I know the post-failure success stories are seductive. They’re akin to fairytales, so we’re wired to enjoy them and aspire to create a similar journey for ourselves.
But what you’re buying into is survivorship bias. The vast majority of founders who went through actual failure (not tiny mistakes) using their own investment gave up. You don’t see their stories because they’re not seductive enough to get published anywhere.
_________________________________________________________________
Adriana’s Picks
- ConvertKit bought referral company SparkLoop and got one step closer to becoming the most comprehensive platform for creators: marketing, commerce, referrals, recommendations — all under a single roof.
- ChatGPT may NOT be as popular as you think. A study by Morgan Stanley revealed that only 19% of respondents had used it. A study by The Verge had similar results: one-third of respondents had used an AI tool. Both studies were conducted in April, on the same sample — 2,000 US-based adults. I suspect that The Verge respondents are more likely to be early-adopters, though, even if the study was conducted by an independent contractor.
- Mark is trying to be cool again. He figured “elonization” will boost his coolness factor. Yikes!
That’s it from me today!
See you next week, at the same time in the same place!
Here to make you think,
Adriana
____________________________________________________________________________________________
Need me in your corner? There are three ways I can help you:
- Get my product launch email templates that sell: 5+1 emails you can send to your list in 45 seconds.
- Book a 1:1 strategy session with me. Let’s unlock your growth in 60 mins!
- Get content or copy that converts AND ranks. My digital marketing agency is here.
