5 clips
BBuilding Great Tech
Daniel Cheaib shares the darkest moment of his startup journey when the team ran out of cash, stopped working on the product, and he had to take a second job while facing his fear of failure. Just when everything seemed lost, an investor reached out and changed their trajectory in three weeks.
RRiding Unicorns
Matt Chandler from Octopus Ventures shares the story of his failed men's beauty services marketplace that launched in 2014, two years before the market was ready. He explains how they tried to create a male equivalent to Wahanda (now TreatWell) but had to shut down after two years of aggregating barbershops and other male grooming services.
TThe PMF Show
Bassem Hamdy shares how his startup failed within three months when the promised interoperability and cooperation in the industry turned out to be non-existent. Despite having a strong network and willing clients for co-development, the technical reality didn't match the industry platitudes about APIs and friendly cooperation.
TThe Full Ratchet
A venture capitalist explains their mindset toward startup failures, emphasizing that losing investments are an expected part of the high-risk VC business model. They break down the fundamental reality that 9 out of 10 startups won't succeed, framing failure as a mathematical inevitability rather than something to feel sorry about.
RRiding Unicorns · Failure to Building a
Managing Partner Apostolos Apostolakis reveals how his startup's public failure devastated his personal life for years. He describes the psychological toll of going from a visible success story to an example of failure, leading to complete social withdrawal and inability to maintain relationships.