Please Fail At Something This Year…
At a Harvard Business School virtual networking session, an Indian professor said to me “Charles, Africans hate to fail. Failure is stigmatised in Africa while those who fail in America are crowned heroes. Charles, you need to tell your people that Silicon Valley Companies hire more failed founders to their boardrooms. It’s a strategy that has helped build more successful companies”.
I thought about that for a moment and it dawned on me that I am also guilty of not hiring enough failures. So I went online to study the two types of failures – good failure vs bad failure.
Silicon Valley does not hire bad failures – founders who failed but continue to blame others for their failure.
Silicon Valley only employs founders who failed and take responsibility for their failure. They are called GOOD FAILURES.
So the difference between a bad failure and a good failure is Taking Responsibility.
Unfortunately, most failed founders in Nigeria and Africa by extension blame the government or the economy. Some even blame their village people. So we have more bad failures than good failures.
This year, I encourage you to fail at something. Just Do Something without overthinking failure – and no, I am not asking you to take f00lish risks. Make sure you have done some initial planning and analysis. Then launch. If it fails, you learn and try again. That’s the fun of entrepreneurship.
Tip: If you once failed in a funded startup and you have taken responsibility for the failure, try to look for a remote job on the boards of forward thinking startups in America and boldly mention how much you lost in millions and the lessons you learnt from your failure. State how your experience can help their startup become successful.
Top secret: when we started Transhuman Coin , I hired two failed founders of Crypto projects to advise me. My co-founders will remember I always mentioned “Rahim said this or that”. Rahim was my personal advisor. His crypto project hit over $50m in MarketCap and it collapsed after 11 months. I needed to know what he did wrong so I hired him to advise me. His advice is the reason Transhuman Coin has survived major market crashes and is now about to be shown at the KillerWhales TV while in its 4th year of existence. Most crypto projects fail in its first year.
Failing in a new venture is the Entrepreneur’s Badge of Honour. Do Not let anyone who has never failed mentor you. Be intentional with failing.
My name is Charles Awuzie and I am a Good Failure who kept Rising Up.
Appreciation: Thank you Harvard Business School Quantic School of Business and Technology and Forbes Business Council for the opportunities to network and grow.
At a Harvard Business School virtual networking session, an Indian professor said to me “Charles, Africans hate to fail. Failure is stigmatised in Africa while those who fail in America are crowned heroes. Charles, you need to tell your people that Silicon Valley Companies hire more failed founders to their boardrooms. It’s a strategy that has helped build more successful companies”.
I thought about that for a moment and it dawned on me that I am also guilty of not hiring enough failures. So I went online to study the two types of failures – good failure vs bad failure.
Silicon Valley does not hire bad failures – founders who failed but continue to blame others for their failure.
Silicon Valley only employs founders who failed and take responsibility for their failure. They are called GOOD FAILURES.
So the difference between a bad failure and a good failure is Taking Responsibility.
Unfortunately, most failed founders in Nigeria and Africa by extension blame the government or the economy. Some even blame their village people. So we have more bad failures than good failures.
This year, I encourage you to fail at something. Just Do Something without overthinking failure – and no, I am not asking you to take f00lish risks. Make sure you have done some initial planning and analysis. Then launch. If it fails, you learn and try again. That’s the fun of entrepreneurship.
Tip: If you once failed in a funded startup and you have taken responsibility for the failure, try to look for a remote job on the boards of forward thinking startups in America and boldly mention how much you lost in millions and the lessons you learnt from your failure. State how your experience can help their startup become successful.
Top secret: when we started Transhuman Coin , I hired two failed founders of Crypto projects to advise me. My co-founders will remember I always mentioned “Rahim said this or that”. Rahim was my personal advisor. His crypto project hit over $50m in MarketCap and it collapsed after 11 months. I needed to know what he did wrong so I hired him to advise me. His advice is the reason Transhuman Coin has survived major market crashes and is now about to be shown at the KillerWhales TV while in its 4th year of existence. Most crypto projects fail in its first year.
Failing in a new venture is the Entrepreneur’s Badge of Honour. Do Not let anyone who has never failed mentor you. Be intentional with failing.
My name is Charles Awuzie and I am a Good Failure who kept Rising Up.
Appreciation: Thank you Harvard Business School Quantic School of Business and Technology and Forbes Business Council for the opportunities to network and grow.
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