11-1: Describe failure and its effect on entrepreneurs.

Learning and further opportunities often come with failure. Failure does, however, come with extreme costs (financial and emotional) that need to be well managed to enable success down the road. If failure is seen as an acceptable step on the path to success, it is much more likely that failure may serve to hone the business and the entrepreneurs behind it.

11-2: Identify several reasons for failure.

Failures come in all shapes and sizes. Common types of failure include deviance, inattention, lack of ability, process inadequacy, poor business process flow, communication uncertainty, and exploratory experimentation.

11-3: Describe the consequences of fear of failure for entrepreneurs.

Fear of failure makes the entrepreneur less likely to pursue and achieve the transformative power of learning from failure.

11-4: Explain the different ways entrepreneurs can learn from failure.

Failure often goes hand-in-hand with experimentation, with each iteration bringing a product or service nearer to the state necessary for market success. Something can be learned from any failure, and it’s important that the firm and its founders establish a blame-free climate in which learning can be maximized.

11-5: Describe the significance of “grit” and its role in building tolerance for failure.

Grit is that “special something” that enables people to persevere though prolonged hardship to maintain commitment and achieve long-term goals.