Slides from talk at Failcon Zurich, 2013

1. “QUITTING, SUCKING, and
failing
your way to a better life”Michael Wolfe
www.michaelrwolfe.com
@michaelrwolfe

2. FIRST, ABOUT ME
I am a QUITTER
I sometimes SUCK
I often FAIL

3. 1. MY JOURNEY
2. WHY IS FAILURE SO HARD
TO ACCEPT?
3. WHY IS IT SO IMPORTANT?
4. WHAT CAN YOU DO?

4. MY JOURNEY
AVOID
failure
ACCEPT
failure

5. My Career
Four startups and a few big
companies
Several roles (CEO,
Engineering, Product)
Advising and mentoring
Full of quit, suck and fail

6. QUITTING
I quit several good jobs
Several businesses pivoted
I shut one company down

7. SUCKING
I was a mediocre student
My teams and I always in over
our heads
Lack of resources

8. FAILING
They all had a high
probability of failure
One did fail
Several failed products

9. RESULT
One IPO, two acquisitions
Very rapid learning
Great times, amazing teams
Maintained family life, sports,
travel, sabbaticals

10. Why is quitting, sucking, and
failing so hard?

11. OUR MENTAL MODEL of the
world
KNOWN PROBLEMS
DEFINED CRITERIA
CLEAR AUTHORITY

12. CHILDHOOD
KNOWN PROBLEMS
Be good, sit up straight, do your
chores
DEFINED CRITERIA
Praise, rewards
CLEAR AUTHORITY
Parents

13. SCHOOL
KNOWN PROBLEMS
Math, reading, writing, language
DEFINED CRITERIA
Right and wrong answers ,
grades
CLEAR AUTHORITY
Teachers

14. WORK
KNOWN PROBLEMS
Well-understood customers,
products, processes
DEFINED CRITERIA
Deadlines, quotas
CLEAR AUTHORITY
Bosses

15. SOMETIMES THIS is the right
model
I don’t want these folks to
QUIT, SUCK, and FAIL

16. BUT IT DOES NOT WORK FOR
INNOVATION
Customer, product, market are unknown
Solutions are found through trial and error
Companies are understaffed, unfunded, full of
inexperienced folks
Most of them fail, but winners are huge

17. Let’s test IT
Quit school, quit jobs
Poor management skills at
first
Many failed projects
Near-death experiences

18. SO WHAT CAN YOU DO?

19. GO to failcon
Done!
√

20. PLEASE JUST STOP THIS
“That seems like
such a time waster”
“That will never
work”
“No company will
trust that”
“That team has no
experience”
Being wrong will destroy your business and career

21. “LIVE in the future”
Ubiquitous mobile devices
Cheap tablets
Robotics and 3D printing
Fracking and cheap energy
Decline of retail
Online universities
Remote labor pools
Self driving cars
These things are happening whether you like it or
now – what are you doing about it?

22. EMBRACE YOUTH
If you are young, jump in – don’t wait
Give young people real authority and power
No “paying your dues”

23. FIND a way to quit, suck, and fail
Try something hard, risky, and scary
Encourage others who do the same
Seek “career security” not “job security”

24. QueSTIONS?
Michael Wolfe
www.michaelrwolfe.com
@michaelrwolfe