Nick HutchisonFounder and CEO, BookThinkers

“Failing Faster” by Luv Tulsidas gives you easy-to-digest insights, case studies, & personal stories

8 Mar 2024 · 1 min

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In this brief YouTube segment, Nick Hutchison challenges the popular “fail fast” startup advice. He begins by highlighting a striking statistic that the average CEO tenure has fallen to just five years, suggesting that much of what business schools teach about leadership and innovation is outdated. Hutchison argues that today’s companies operate on razor‑thin margins, making repeated failures financially unsustainable—businesses will quickly run out of cash if they keep “failing fast.” To counter this narrative, he recommends the book Failing Fast by Love Talcidas, claiming it explains why 90% of startups fail and offers strategies to avoid those pitfalls. He directs viewers to the video caption for his favorite takeaways from the book.

Chapters

Can you guess the average tenure of a CEO? The answer is going to surprise you. It's down to 5 years. That's because 99% of what we learned in business school about leadership and innovation is wrong. Everything's changed. Today, you can't afford to fail fast because so many businesses are operating on very thin margins. You're gonna run outta cash if you continue to fail. You need things to work. And if you need to undo that narrative in your head and get a better understanding as to why failing fast does not work, then I highly recommend reading this book, Failing Fast, by author Love Talcidas. He's going to show you why 90% of startups fail and how you can avoid making those same mistakes. Check out the caption for more of my favorite takeaways.