Failure & regret

How has a failure, or apparent failure, set you up for later success? Do you have a favourite failure?

63 answers answered between 1910 and 2026

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Public figures who have answered a question like this elsewhere. Quoted from the source shown, not written for FLAPSS.

Drew Houston Co-founder and chief executive of Dropbox
No one has a 5.0 in real life. In fact, when you finish school, the whole notion of a GPA just goes away. When you're in school, every little mistake is a permanent crack in your windshield. But in the real world, if you're not swerving around and hitting the guard rails every now and then, you're not going fast enough. Your biggest risk isn't failing, it's getting too comfortable.
Recorded MIT 147th Commencement, MIT News (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), 7 June 2013 source ↗
Daniel Ek Co-founder and former chief executive of Spotify
It was like switching out the engines mid-flight. I remember the day we turned on this free service, had we probably gone on for about six more months, I think we might have died as a company. That was a defining moment and that was as late as 2013. I think every great company has at least three near-death experiences.
Recorded Slush conference, Helsinki, Music Ally, 30 November 2016 source ↗
Whitney Wolfe Herd Founder and chief executive of Bumble
Don't be scared of the ‘what ifs,’ because the truth is, the only failure is not trying. That's the only way you can fail. Trying and having it not work out isn't failure.
Recorded CNBC Make It interview, conducted 2019, 11 February 2021 source ↗

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