Ask HN: Are you embarrassed by your failed projects? • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN: Are you embarrassed by your failed projects?

#11

Post by nuclear_eclipse » Thu, Oct 28, 2010, 4:45 PM UTC

I'm more embarassed by my lack of attention span to see side projects through to completion.

Re: Ask HN: Are you embarrassed by your failed projects?

#12

Post by p01nd3xt3r » Thu, Oct 28, 2010, 4:45 PM UTC

No, because they were awesome learning experiences. The term "failure" is very vague. Do you consider anything less than a profitable exit a failure? I have had many startups that did not go as planned but because I learned a lot and they (the startup) led me to other ideas I would not consider them failures. The only time I would be embarrassed about a failure is if I had quit and the company went on to succeeded with out me.

Re: Ask HN: Are you embarrassed by your failed projects?

#13

Post by edw519 » Thu, Oct 28, 2010, 4:56 PM UTC

Never.

If the project was a success, I did it for the project.

If it wasn't, I did it to learn and grow.

Either way, nothing to be embarrassed about.

(Am I embarrassed by the code I wrote 3 years ago? Now that's another story.)

Re: Ask HN: Are you embarrassed by your failed projects?

#14

Post by yodha77 » Thu, Oct 28, 2010, 4:59 PM UTC

Yes. I am really embarrassed about them. I started about 4-8 side projects. I have 0% success rate. My embarrassment comes in two forms: i) disappointing other people who are "part" of the team ii) self-disappointment that I cannot finish the full project myself. i) typically results in avoiding them for life. Don't get me wrong. In my corporate world, I am more successful.

Re: Ask HN: Are you embarrassed by your failed projects?

#15

Post by chailatte » Thu, Oct 28, 2010, 5:03 PM UTC

One of the major characteristic that an entrepreneur should have is 'total disregard for others' opinion of you as a person'. It frees you from doing things that would otherwise make you compromise your vision.

"I am homeless....people are looking down on me and my daughter...guess I should stop writing this wizard school book"

"I'm a stay at home dad who's failed at tons of iterations as an inventor. Guess I should stop messing with vacuum cleaners"

Re: Ask HN: Are you embarrassed by your failed projects?

#16

Post by mattblalock » Thu, Oct 28, 2010, 5:08 PM UTC

I find it difficult to avoid a bit of embarrassment... yes, I did learn from it... The goal isn't to learn, failure is failure.

I try to find comfort in the things that went right and aim to not let it happen again, but it is nonetheless embarrassing.

Re: Ask HN: Are you embarrassed by your failed projects?

#17

Post by mattblalock » Thu, Oct 28, 2010, 5:15 PM UTC

edw519 wrote: post #13

Never. If the project was a success, I did it for the project. If it wasn't, I did it to learn and grow. Either way, nothing to be embarrassed about. (Am I embarrassed by the code I wrote 3 years ago? Now that's another story.)

See this is based on the assumption that "you did it for the project" or "to learn and grow", but failure (for me) is based on goals and one's inability to meet them. If your goal was to "create a project", you have succeeded even in the face of "failure", unless you never created your project. Most of us, however, have goals: get 100 users, design a great user experience, play 45 shows in a band, get a record deal, get famous.

I don't think you can repurpose your project as a learning experiment... even if you learned, what was the goal?

Re: Ask HN: Are you embarrassed by your failed projects?

#18

Post by mattblalock » Thu, Oct 28, 2010, 5:16 PM UTC

edw519 wrote: post #13

Never. If the project was a success, I did it for the project. If it wasn't, I did it to learn and grow. Either way, nothing to be embarrassed about. (Am I embarrassed by the code I wrote 3 years ago? Now that's another story.)

PS. I'm always embarrassed by the code I wrote ages ago as well... seriously, what I was I thinking?

Re: Ask HN: Are you embarrassed by your failed projects?

#19

Post by thibaut_barrere » Thu, Oct 28, 2010, 5:17 PM UTC

I (really) don't care about failing at all. I throwed ~10 sites to the bin and kept 2 (http://www.learnivore.com/ and http://www.toutpourmonipad.com/).

The one thing I notice is that the more I do these, the more I get ambitious and confident :)

I focus mainly on learning (how to launch/promote).

Re: Ask HN: Are you embarrassed by your failed projects?

#20

Post by TamDenholm » Thu, Oct 28, 2010, 5:23 PM UTC

edw519 wrote: post #13

Never. If the project was a success, I did it for the project. If it wasn't, I did it to learn and grow. Either way, nothing to be embarrassed about. (Am I embarrassed by the code I wrote 3 years ago? Now that's another story.)

I think if you're not embarrassed by the code you wrote ages ago then you're not improving.