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0 pointsctdonath11y ago0 comments

All you risk is failure. So what?

Others may have a stake in your failure. The risk may not be yours alone.

0 comments

Others like who? Parents, say? My parents would probably be more concerned if I were unwilling to try something out of fear of failure than if I tried and failed.

Or others like investors? Tell them the truth about risk up front. Also, don't use people like parents as first-stage investors - it can get way too nasty if you fail.

People like spouses and children are a special case. If I chase a startup idea and fail, my spouse may share in the financial hit. I know, "For richer, for poorer", but she may not be comfortable with that risk, and is entitled to me being sensitive to how she feels about this. (If you're married, don't go into a startup without your spouse's full support.)

ctdonathOP11y ago

I have a manager precisely because I need to not know everything my work impacts; my head is full enough with what I'm doing to make this app work without pursuing perfect knowledge of how coworkers, customers, sales, marketing, investors, etc all fit in with decisions. I may be directed to do "not the right thing" not because someone is stupid, but because I don't know (and don't need to know) some of the interactions & consequences of doing it (say, spending another day refining a process means good chance of losing a potential major customer).

"We demand rigidly defined areas of doubt and uncertainty!" - Douglas Adams, H2G2

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