Many start-up ecosystem stakeholders, such as Startup Genome, Techstars, Y Combinator, CB Insights, Forbes and more, come out with “Top X Reasons Why Startups Fail“ articles from time to time. They typically list factors such as “no market for the product or service,” “ran out of money,” “poor user experience,” “poor customer relations,” among others.
As a project manager looking at these things, I don’t see the causes of failure; I only see the symptoms of failure. As someone who’s been an entrepreneur for multiple decades, started dozens of companies, with multiple exits in multiple industries, and a professor of entrepreneurship at both the bachelor’s and master’s levels, I can say without a shadow of a doubt: there has only ever been — and will only ever be — ONE cause of startup failure. Us. We are the cause of why our startups fail.
I will delve into the primary aspects of what causes us to fail, and discuss solutions that I have proven to work.
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