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Happy Friday, {{first name | friend}}!
4 out of 5 businesses fail.
Most entrepreneurs end up back at a 9-5 job.
I’ve failed many times but i’m stubborn so I wont go back to a 9-5.
I've been thinking about this stat all week. Here's why.
The conversation
Wednesday. Virtual coffee with a founder who just shut down his SaaS company.
Two years of building. $50K invested. Decent product. No market fit.
He's interviewing for corporate jobs next week.
"I feel like such a failure," he tells me.
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The reality
He's not a failure. He's a statistic.
80% of businesses don't work out. That's not a bug in the system. It's a feature.
Most business ideas shouldn't succeed. Most founders aren't ready. Most timing is wrong.
The examples I know
Three founders from my network in the past year:
Guy #1: E-commerce store. Great products. Couldn't figure out customer acquisition. Back to his marketing job.
Girl #2: Consulting agency. Good at the work. Terrible at sales. Joined another agency as an employee.
Guy #3: App development. Built something people liked. Ran out of money before revenue hit. Software engineering at a startup now.
All smart people. All good at what they do. All back in corporate jobs.
Why this isn't bad
Corporate jobs aren't failure. They're just different choices.
Some people discover entrepreneurship isn't for them. That's valuable information.
Some people learn skills from their failed business that make them better employees.
Some people go back to corporate and try again later with better ideas.
The real failure
The real failure is staying in a business that's obviously not working.
Burning money you don't have. Destroying relationships. Pretending everything's fine when it's not.
Shutting down a failed business and getting a good job? That's smart decision-making.
My take
The 80% failure rate scares people away from starting businesses.
It shouldn't. It should scare people away from starting bad businesses.
Most people who "fail" at entrepreneurship don't actually fail. They just learn that this particular business wasn't right.
That's not a character flaw. That's market feedback.
The virtual coffee founder
By the way, my friend? He's not depressed about shutting down.
He's excited about his new job. Better work-life balance. Steady paycheck. Health insurance.
He'll probably try another business in a few years. This time with more experience and better judgment.
That's not failure. That's learning.
Have a great weekend,
Stephen
P.S. Going back to a 9-5 after a failed business isn't giving up. Sometimes it's the smartest thing you can do. Not every founder is meant to be a founder right now. And that's perfectly fine.
