Ask HN: What's the point of starting a startup if the failure rate is so high?
like why?
11 comments
Because you feel like you have to. You will likely fail, but you are driven to try. Most fail, but sometimes the lottery ticket pays out.
Upon further thought, below is relevant context I should've included in my comment:
https://foundersatwork.posthaven.com/find-your-people
Find Your People - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44074017 - May 2025
https://foundersatwork.posthaven.com/find-your-people
Find Your People - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44074017 - May 2025
It can still be fun and rewarding when it doesn't succeed. The fact that it will eventually end doesn't mean it wasn't worthwhile or impactful. "the journey is more important than the destination" and all that
Because alternative is working in soul-sucking corporate nonsense till end of life.
Because you might die, waiting for failure rate to come down. Failure rate comes down, more people will try, causing failure rate to rise.
Yes, tha failure rate is high. Rewards, if you succeed, are also high. Your choice.
Because you have an idea for a product/service that you think people will want/need enough that they'll pay for it?
Because you think you can create the product/service before you go bankrupt, and that you can then sell it for a price the market can bear that will allow you to make a profit?
It's not just a coin flip, which is the impression you get looking at statistics too much.
Because you think you can create the product/service before you go bankrupt, and that you can then sell it for a price the market can bear that will allow you to make a profit?
It's not just a coin flip, which is the impression you get looking at statistics too much.
You may have a vision for creating a product or service that you believe requires starting a company, and you believe you have a compelling business model that will sustain the company. Failure may happen, but the drive for getting that product or service out there may overcome fears of failure.
The world may be a different place had Steve Wozniak decided to remain an engineer at Hewlett Packard's calculator division instead of creating a company to sell the computer he worked on as a side project, though it did take a lot of convincing from Steve Jobs.
The world may be a different place had Steve Wozniak decided to remain an engineer at Hewlett Packard's calculator division instead of creating a company to sell the computer he worked on as a side project, though it did take a lot of convincing from Steve Jobs.
Failure rate comes down the more experienced you are.
Don't expect the first one to be a home run.
Remember OpenFeint? the founder of that failed successfully into an acquisition which later on the founder made something called Discord.
You can always try again.
Don't expect the first one to be a home run.
Remember OpenFeint? the founder of that failed successfully into an acquisition which later on the founder made something called Discord.
You can always try again.
There's a place in the world for a gambler,
-- D. Fogelberg
-- D. Fogelberg
Because you might succeed.