James LaughlinHigh-performance leadership and executive coach. Covering all aspects of life and career.

Failure isn’t the goal, but avoiding it at all costs guarantees mediocrity.

29 Jan 2026 · 0 min

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This content was created by James Laughlin. This content was uploaded by James Laughlin. This is an excerpt from a YouTube video titled "Failure isn’t the goal, but avoiding it at all costs guarantees mediocrity." (created 2026-01-29). The clip is a single-speaker discussion about venture capital investing: the speaker notes that 81 portfolio companies have produced losses (defined as recovering less than the original investment), explains that failures are an inherent part of VC, and argues that trying to eliminate all failures leads to mediocrity because overly safe investments won’t generate outsized returns. The content appears to be a talk or commentary on investment philosophy and portfolio outcomes.

Questions this video answers

Recovering less than the original investment (example: invest $100, get $50 back).

We've had 81 companies fail. And a failure would be defined as we got less than our money back. So sometimes they sell or go through some sort of liquidation event, and we get some dollars. But if you give them $100 and you get 50 back, that's a loss. And the goal is not to have companies fail. So it's not like a badge of honor. But it is also the reality of venture capital. And if you tried to optimize away from failure, you as a firm will fail, because safe bets don't equal outsized returns.