I can almost hear a few readers going, “Why is this person trying to sound edgy? As if mockery of xyz has already not become a cliché in itself..”

I know. Why the narrative anyway?

Cause you love posts like this, don’t you?

It’s a cycle you see, there is a system at place with some obvious flaws that everyone relates to but no one really talks about. Then some stranger on the internet makes a parody post calling out the bullshit. People respond with “this is so true!” and kaboom goes the inter-webs.

Sorry to disappoint, but this post is not gonna be that. There are some glaring holes in the modern startup culture and it’s not funny at all, in fact it’s quite terrifying.

For example, we often hear various versions of the “failure is the stepping stone to success” quote. The idea behind this motto is pretty genuine, i.e. to learn from your failure and to make progress. But it’s overused and exaggerated in the current startup culture, to the extent where you are expected to throw a party if you fail, since you’re already on your way to succeed. This is a fallacy, failure does not immediately equate to “path to success.” You are supposed to learn from it and then evolve, not celebrate and repeat.

If that sounds baloney to you, that someone would misinterpret such a simple idea, let me share with you an instance of this foolishness.

I was at a meetup a few months ago and we were doing our introductions, when a guy, probably in his early 30’s, got up and proudly declared “this is my 15th startup!” then looked around searching for impressed reactions, and impressed people were! What sort of an achievement is that? Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying this person should give up. In fact, such high level of grit in an entrepreneur is commendable, but grit alone doesn’t lead to success. If you are not learning anything from your past, then what’s the difference between your zeal and an ambitious fish trying to mate with a rock?

It’s not that you should give up, but to slap excess makeup on your failure just to make it look pretty, is appalling and the sign of a false entrepreneur.

That is the intent of this series. To seek out and shame the unrealistic, delusional qualities of the modern entrepreneur that the current startup culture perpetuates.