Respect where it’s due.

In most of us there is sly pleasure in recounting the times when we have been involved in success.

The “man of the match” statuette on the sideboard – or the tale about how we helped this client and that client ….  ad nauseam

Admitting failure is a hard thing to do.

Throwing in the towel and saying “enough – I’ve failed”

Even harder, perhaps, is objectively analysing the mistakes you made

And the glib advice that “failure is a valuable learning experience” is the last thing you need.

There is a website that lists failed ventures.  Not only that, it has links to the entrepreneur’s own stories.

And boy, are those guys candid.  And generous in spirit.

They know that in each of their stories is a gem of information that if heeded by an attentive would-be entrepreneur, can prevent similar mistakes being made.

They are the guiding beacons in the dangerous waters of business reality.

Another cliché that needs revision is “Quitters never win – and winners never quit”

It should be “Quitters never win – but winners often “pivot””

The site is http://autopsy.io/

And a couple of useful accounts for starters are:

If you don’t recognise acronyms like MVP (minimum viable product) and words like “pivot” you need to refer to my blog here

Key lessons usually revolve around testing all you hypotheses (guesses).  An important one is to make sure that people prove that they “need” your product or service by committing to buy it – with real money not smiley promises!

I will be starting a book list – but until that is ready, I would steer you towards “Will it fly?” by  Pat Flynn.