“My willingness to fail gives me the ability to succeed.” He’s quite fond of aphorisms.

You have to appreciate a venture capitalist who quotes Maya Angelou. He likes this (paraphrased) quote from the iconic author and poet: “You’ll face many defeats, but don’t let yourself be defeated.”

Josh Merrill, founder of TapCanvas, offered this quote about failure from John Doerr: “The best way to get Vinod Khosla to do something is to tell him it’s impossible.”

Cass Philips, executive producer of FailCon, has her own favorite quote, from Manu Kumar with K9 Ventures: “Don’t hire anyone you can’t fire.”

Indeed, though there are many reasons why businesses fail -- poor market research, bad timing, cash flow problems, scaling problems, conflicts with funders, burnout -– there was wide agreement in the crowd that too many start-ups are hatched by college buddies over a six pack of beer. Some of those buddies can deliver on the vision. Others, not so much.

Final note. That aphorism in the blog post title? From Cathy Brooks of Other Than That.

Rachael Myrow is the host of The California Report.

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FailCon: You Can Fail. Just Don't be Stupid.