Why Don’t We Include Failures in Speakers’ Bios?

Entrepreneurship, ,

I say entrepreneurs should agree on full disclosure in their bios. We should list not just our successes, but also the failures. Nobody lists the failures.

For example, my bio would include not just co-founder of one software company that went public, but also co-founder of several software companies that failed completely. And not just founder of two successful businesses, but also of several that failed.

What would happen?

  1. Maybe world would be less likely to swallow those rah rah lines about how you just have to be stubborn to make it. Too many successful entrepreneurs forget how it takes more than just passion and persistence. We have loser businesses that fail regardless.
  2. Maybe we’d see that everybody makes a lot of mistakes, and sometimes they get through it okay.
  3. Maybe we’d be less likely to offer general rules about what makes entrepreneurs, or, for that matter, what makes businesses successful. Which would be okay, because in truth it’s almost all case by case. There are no general rules that apply.

Good idea?

9 thoughts on “Why Don’t We Include Failures in Speakers’ Bios?”

  1. I think it’s a great point! It would take more work and time as well as make the bio longer. Lol!

    It would definitely reflect that failure is not a bad thing if we learn from our mistakes and make better from them. Edison and Lincoln are a couple prominent figures known for their failures.

    1. Tim Berry – Eugene, OR – Founder and chairman of Palo Alto Software, founder of bplans, co-founder of Borland International, Stanford MBA, author of books and software on business planning and startups, baby boomer, exhippy, married 54 years, father of five.
      Tim Berry says:

      Thanks John, and yes, I’m not surprised. Glad you liked it. Tim

  6. Gary Simning – Introducing Myself I'm a father of three great sons and have been married for 37 years. I'm President and founder of CV-CDJ, Inc., a commercial real estate investment and development company. I have developed a number of shopping center projects through LLC's including: Crow Canyon Terrace; RC Lone Tree: RC Brentwood and RC Nordoff to name a few. For 17 years I worked for ARCO Products Company. Many of those years as the corporate real estate executive in charge of of Site Acquisitions and Franchise Sales. During the approximately 5 years I led the group we opened over 480 new stores, including several hundred franchise locations. That represented an increase in sales of over a billion dollars and construction costs value in excess of 1.2 billion dollars. Along the way I was privileged to be able to work with many entrepreneurs in establishing their businesses. I have great respect and admiration for all of those individuals who have the courage to venture out into the world of entrepreneurship. I am the author of a forthcoming book on store front start ups "Get It Right The First Time"; the host of this blog www.experiencesfromthestorefront.com.. I have experienced some wonderful successes and and some gut wrenching failures. I can offer practical advice, tips and resources that will give you the confidence to step out and your own store front business.
    Gary Simning says:

    Tim,
    I agree. The business people I admire are the ones whose personal story I know. I know their failures and their successes. I admire them for how they handled their failures.

    I have found two general rules that always apply. 1) It will cost more than you think 2) It will take longer than you think.

    Thanks for the blog. I enjoy your posts.
    Gary Simning

  7. Pingback: Fired–And Proud of It! | SageAdvice
  8. Pingback: Tim Berry’s Wisdom of the Week

Leave a Reply Cancel reply