A toddler takes a first step, wobbles, falls. Then gets back up. Again. And again. We don't call that failure, we call it learning. It's high time the business realm adopts this toddler tenacity. This gritty reality.
See, when you’re starting up, you’re essentially teetering on new legs.
Albert Einstein noted,
“A person who never made a mistake never tried anything new.”
We hang such quotes on office walls, yet fear the reality behind them.
Michael Jordan, Wayne Gretzky - what do they preach?
Accept failure, but never accept not trying.
Your business plan?
It's going to morph, maybe even crumble, before it solidifies.
Your first product version?
Expect it to be torn apart, only to be built up again.
Roadmaps?
They're not set in stone, but drawn in sand, ready to be reshaped by the tide of experience and feedback.
You think this is it?
Think again. And then think some more.
Because the startup world isn't for the faint-hearted, or the “one-and-done” players. It's a brutal ground of continual reshaping, relentless rethinking.
Failure isn't an exception here, it's the rule.
And guess what?
If you're stepping back, hesitant to mar your clean slate with the mark of failure, then buddy, you've already lost the game.
Not because you couldn't do it, but because you didn't even try.
Contrarian? Perhaps.
But the gospel truth in the world of innovations and startups.
Remember, every stumble brings a lesson, every failure, a fresh perspective. Embrace it, learn from it, build upon it.
And for goodness' sake, stop romanticizing success without failure.
In the startup universe, the fastest learners are the ultimate winners.
Get ready to fall, and then rise, stronger and smarter, every single time.
