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Failure Is An Option

Written by: Brad Feld

Article Overview: My friend Dave sent me a hysterical Onion article titled Failure Now An Option. I hate the phrase "failure is not an option" - of course it is. Some choice quotes:

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Failure Is An Option

My friend Dave sent me a hysterical Onion article titled Failure Now An Option. I hate the phrase "failure is not an option" - of course it is. Some choice quotes:
"As failure continues to dominate the American landscape, this mantra must be overruled"
"We have no choice but to revoke failure's non-optional status, effective immediately,"
"Now all citizens ... will [be able to say] Fuck that - this isn't worth it."
"The only difference is that now Americans can choose, without fear of being ostracized by society, to quit long before getting ahead."
And some data.
"Other data seem to confirm the Interior Department's findings. A recent CBS News/New York Times poll revealed that 64 percent of Americans are "perfectly comfortable" with coming up just short, 43 percent are content to try only once rather than try, try again, and an overwhelming 95 percent admitted that after falling down, they now prefer to stay down. Only 4 percent indicated having "some interest" in applying their balls to the wall."
While this is typical Onion satire, the brilliance of it is its underlying relevance.

Read this article in Brad's blog.

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Home > Entrepreneur-Advice > Brad Feld > Failure Is An Option
Article Tags: american landscape, balls to the wall, blog, brilliance, cbs, cbs news, citizens, failure is not an option, fear, friend dave, interior department, mantra, new york times, new york times poll, news new york, onion article, phrase, relevance, satire

About the Author: Brad Feld
RSS for Brad's articles - Visit Brad's website

Brad Feld is currently a Managing Director at Mobius Venture Capital and has been with the firm since 1996. Prior to Mobius, Brad founded Feld Technologies, which was sold to AmeriData Technologies in 1993, where he became Chief Technology Officer. Brad currently serves on the boards of a number of private companies, including Atreus, Comergent, ePartners, FeedBurner, Gold Systems, Judy's Book, Klocwork, NewsGator, Quova, Rally Software, and StillSecure. In addition, he is on the board of The National Center for Women & Information Technology, The Community Foundation Serving Boulder County, and The Colorado Conservation Trust. Brad has previously been a member of the board of directors of the Young Entrepreneurs Organization and founded the Boston and Colorado chapters. He holds Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degrees in Management Science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Click here to visit Brad's website
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