However, dealing with the problem of freezing cold can be tricky. Chen cites the example of Tiny Speck, a sports company that could be Slack. Tiny Speck had everything he wanted: a stellar band, a fun set-up, and $ 17 million from reputable investors (including Andreessen Horowitz, where Chen works). It also got a lot of people to try this game, called Glitch. The problem was that it could not make people live.
What is the difference between Glitch and Slack? For one thing, Slack’s time worked: It expects staff members and the importance of documentation. But it also benefited from small, atomic nets. People joined the team, and once the teams became more aware of the drugs, they could continue to use them. (The magic number, according to Slack, is when the group exchanged about 2,000 messages.) After that, the company grew by encouraging companies to take Slack across all working groups, weaving together multiple teams on a single integrated work tool.
Of course, online results alone cannot explain the success or failure of a startup. Slack was one of many work-related communication programs with similar ideas; not all had the same success. Chen admits: “At any successful start like Slack, there are a lot of other failures, and they often stumble at the start.”
All First Cold Problem and Try Failure give autopsies to several companies that have failed, but this could leave readers scratching their heads. Chen points out that some startups complete the network because they provide free, easy and easy-to-use services. Some developers do well for exactly the opposite reasons: Their products are stable, self-contained, and hard to find. Ananth, in his studies, finds difficulties in various initiatives without predicting how to avoid those pitfalls in the future.
Another book from 2021 attempts to provide a more comprehensive account of the cause of failure. Tom Eisenmann, who has taught business at Harvard Business School for the past 20 years, investigated 470 founders who failed as a result of moving south. Their answers form his own book, Why the Founders Fail.
Eisenmann rejects the notion that many failures go down to the founders, and criticizes capitalists for focusing too much on finding the “right people” with grit, determination, and corporate skills. Instead, they point out that failures often come as a result of poor assumptions of market demand, rapid growth, and over-vision (all things, in particular, that VCs promote). Like any good professor in business school, Eisenmann comes prepared with a lot of training. He pays close attention to the basics established by his students – cases in which postmortem seems to be human.
Why the Founders Fail provides six risk factors, including neglecting customer surveys, finding flawed victims, and falling into the “speed trap” of any growth. Eisenmann emphasizes that these errors are inevitable. But most importantly, as Ananth advises startups to understand that failure is often part of the package. Toward the end of his book, he gives practical suggestions on how to deal with failures if they are inevitable.
In today’s world, raising money can be easy – and what comes next is complicated. Can these books help beginners or savers to avoid disappointment? Probably not, but just as many health books have helped people to avoid disease. Identifying the common causes of death is one thing. Learning to live a healthy lifestyle is another.
When you purchase something based on our links, we can be refunded. This helps to support our journalism. learn more.
Some of the Best WIRED Stories