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December 16, 2005
Learning from failure in The Entrepreneurial Code
Christopher Cononico tells the story of his business failure in The Entrepreneurial Code, a fascinating blow-by-blow of a student start-up in the pre-dotcom days. (This Case Story, as he calls it, is posted online for free.)
The problem with "we hung on by our fingernails, we rolled the dice for payroll, and we made it" tales of entrepreneurial success is that you only hear about the ones who made it. Fed a steady diet of back-from-the-brink-with-a-big-gamble stories, you can start to believe that they are the cause of success, rather than an unfortunate detour along the way.
Failure is a great teacher, but too often its valuable lessons benefit only those it touches. We nurse our wounds in private and hoard our expensive education. There are not enough books and speakers on the topic of "How I went bankrupt and hurt my friends and family."
Cononico is up front about the mistakes he made and the consequences of his bad business decisions. He has done a great service by sharing his experience for the benefit of entrepreneurs who follow him.
Posted by Bob Pritchett at December 16, 2005 6:15 AM
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