Opinion

September 16, 2019

It takes a thriving ecosystem for entrepreneurs to fail safely

Celebrating startup failure is just another Silicon Valley import. What Europe needs is to build an ecosystem where entrepreneurs can quickly bounce back.


Nicolas Colin

5 min read

Businessman stopping the domino effect on gray background.

One common practice in the European tech world is trying to imitate Silicon Valley. We build technology parks that we think match the design of Stanford. We do pitch competitions inspired by TechCrunch Disrupt. We offer employee stock options, but usually via traditional, local, highly imperfect schemes. And we make an effort at celebrating failure, because that is supposedly what makes Silicon Valley a thriving ecosystem. Failure is good, we say—a necessary part of the entrepreneurial journey.

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Nicolas Colin

Nicolas Colin is cofounder of VC firm The Family. He writes a regular column for Sifted

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