Failure is a decision. Own it.
Failure isn’t as simple as we assume it to be when we’re all trying to avoid it. Failure has layers and it has degrees, as does success. I’ve learned a lot about failure in the past year and a half, but I received my degree in failure just a little over a week ago when I decided to leave Pocket Tales. As a graduate, I can tell you there is only one definitive thing to know about failure:
You only fail when you decide to stop trying. That is true 100% of the time.
I can’t think of a single other attribute of failure or failure’s existence that is always true. Whether failure is a net positive or negative depends on the circumstances. With Pocket Tales, we originally failed to build a successful business around converting children’s books into iPhone apps. The only reason that failed was because we DECIDED to stop trying to make it work. I think that was a positive failure because it allowed us to land on an idea that I think was much better and much more disruptive.
Someone once tried to tell me that the number one reason businesses fail is because they run out of cash. I’m not buying it. The number one reason businesses fail is because the entrepreneur decides to quit. He or she decides the expected outcome is not worth the price. It’s a decision to stop trying.
Maybe a VC or angel didn’t invest, but that doesn’t represent failure. If your goal was to raise money from that VC, then in order to avoid failure you would build another business and try to raise money from them again. If your goal was really to build a successful business, than not raising money from that VC/angel isn’t failure. There are always other ways to try to get cash or other ways to build your business without cash.
It may seem like I’m just playing with words. That I’m saying that one can avoid failure by redefining the goal, which is true, but it isn’t trivial. Your startup has not failed until you stopped trying to make it work. It’s an important thing to learn because it sets the right attitude for success. You are in control. Things don’t happen to you. You make things happen.
Don’t read my axiom on failure as a statement that you should never stop trying. That’s not my point at all. If I believed that, I wouldn’t have left Pocket Tales. I only want to point out that failure is a decision to be made. Own that decision.
Besides waxing philosophic on failure, the purpose of this post is to announce that I am no longer with Pocket Tales. I will save the “why I failed with Pocket Tales” post for another day. (If that sounds mysterious, it’s not meant to, ha)
It’s important to note that Pocket Tales itself has not failed and I still believe the vision has huge potential. My friend and co-founder Yaw Aning has decided to continue building the business. Pocket Tales continues to support its users and plan for the future. If you’re interested, you should go to www.pockettales.com right now and get in line for a beta invite. You may even get an invite to the alpha which is currently available.
I will continue to be involved from an advisor role, but my full-time efforts will be focused on a new opportunity. I don’t know what that is yet, but I’m planning to stay in the startup world with the goal of learning something new.