What separates a 𝐟𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 from a 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐮𝐫?
Sometimes, nothing more than the ability to try again ➡️ and learn.
Research from 𝐻𝑎𝑟𝑣𝑎𝑟𝑑 𝐵𝑢𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑠𝑠 𝑆𝑐ℎ𝑜𝑜𝑙 shows that 𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝟕𝟖% 𝐨𝐟 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭-𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐮𝐩𝐬 𝐟𝐚𝐢𝐥.
But that’s not the 𝐞𝐧𝐝 of the story. It’s how most real founders 𝐛𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐧.
Those who try again, reflect, and adapt often build stronger teams, make better decisions, and move closer to success with every attempt.
Startup accelerators and investors have noticed.
Many now look not for “perfect” founders, but for those who 𝐟𝐚𝐢𝐥 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝 🟰 founders who understand why things went wrong and use that insight to build better.
As Chris DeVore from Founders Co-op (Seattle) writes:
🗨️ “𝐴 𝑔𝑜𝑜𝑑 𝑎𝑐𝑐𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑜𝑟 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑓𝑜𝑐𝑢𝑠𝑒𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑔𝑦 𝑜𝑓 𝑝𝑒𝑜𝑝𝑙𝑒 𝑤ℎ𝑜 ‘𝑐𝑎𝑛’𝑡 𝑛𝑜𝑡’ 𝑏𝑒 𝑓𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑟𝑠. 𝐴𝑛𝑦𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑒𝑙𝑠𝑒 𝑖𝑠 𝑤𝑒𝑙𝑙-𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑒𝑑 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑢𝑝 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑡𝑟𝑒 𝑎𝑡 𝑏𝑒𝑠𝑡.”
❌ The best programs don’t try to eliminate risk or failure.
✅ They create systems where founders can confront it faster, learn together, and turn it into progress.
At BRAINCONNECT Prague, we see 𝐟𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐬 𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐚, not a dead end.
Because the real job of every innovation platform isn’t to protect founders from failure. It’s to help them fail better, faster, and together.
🔹 𝐅𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐬𝐮𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬. 𝐈𝐭’𝐬 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬.
Next week, we’ll look deeper:
👉 Why is failure still a taboo in some cultures — and how can we change that mindset?
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