In France, Failure Sucks

We have had some discussions in the past here about how Silicon Valley’s success owes itself to the fact that risk-taking is encouraged here, and failure is not a stigma that you have to carry throughout your career.

I recently attended a roundtable at Stanford with a delegation from France, where this topic came up again, in the context of what would it take to build a Silicon Valley type ecosystem. Delegates seemed to struggle with the concept of Failure.

I think, this is generally true in all of Europe. It certainly has been true in India for a long time, although, my sense is that things are starting to change there now.

Closer to home, even on the North American continent, on the East Coast or in Canada, failure isn’t looked upon as “experience”, the way we do in the Valley. Here, people re-invent themselves every few years, and triumph of the human spirit to overcome adversity is celebrated wholeheartedly.

Among other things, it is an essential element that makes the valley what it is, and any emerging entrepreneurial hub needs to appreciate the concept.