I nearly crawl out of my skin when I hear someone say the words “don’t be afraid to fail and fail fast”. As an entrepreneur those words trigger me because anyone who has faced real failure will know it hurts in unimaginable ways.
As an entrepreneur, I lost count of the sleepless nights I had in the first few years of starting our business. My son, who was 10 years old at the time, kept asking, with hopeful eyes, whether we had secured our funding yet. I had to repeatedly say “close” when I knew we were still miles away. I woke up in sweats worried that I was approaching failure personally, professionally, and financially. I knew that if my co-founder and I had failed, the wipe out would have been devastating. That fear of failure drove us to ignite our imaginations so we could figure out how to succeed. Had we “failed and failed fast”, we would NEVER be where we are today.
Being creative in difficult situations and adapting when things are trending poorly is not a moment in time worthy of the failure title. These moments are the exact opposite. They are the moments that define a person’s success. So, when I hear someone say, “don’t be afraid to fail and fail fast”, I know that they are not an entrepreneur.
If you use that expression, I would encourage you to change it up. For those entrepreneurs facing failure, challenge yourself to think even more positively. Have the courage to change tact and try new approaches. Push yourself to do better and better each day so you can get back on track. A positive mindset is everything and the word failure shouldn’t enter your vocabulary. Please stop glorifying the F word. Be afraid to fail and fight hard and long to find success.
That is my wish for entrepreneurs pursuing the crazy dream of changing the world.
Author: Whitney Rockley, Co-founder & Managing Partner, McRock Capital
