How to Fail
summary
A lineup of concrete outcomes and tactics: Capsule Graphics fails as a subscription studio because time exceeds flat-rate capacity, Camping (the 5 KB Ruby microframework) gets maintenance attempts, a newsletter called Spam never ships an issue, and a Kona language prototype is being written in WebAssembly by first implementing a helper language Rook to compile Kona. Claims focus on money, time, delivery, markets and contracts, with examples like Gumroad’s slow growth and clear rules: charge for time, deliver early, verify requirements, pivot when metrics say so.
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chapters (34)
- 0:00Welcome
- 1:29Introduction
- 2:53Failing a subscription studio
- 3:36Learning Ruby with Camping
- 4:42Newsletter and new projects
- 5:24Failing: running out of money
- 7:13Failing: running out of time
- 8:15Failing: lying to yourself
- 9:20Failing: spending tomorrow today
- 10:48Failing: faking it till you make it
- 13:20Failing: spreading yourself too thin
- 14:45Failing: doing it tomorrow
- 16:36Failing: no clients
- 17:40Failing: no market
- 19:06Failing: not focusing
- 20:11Failing: wrong market
- 21:57Markets and marketing
- 24:46Choosing your market
- 25:30Branding vs marketing
- 28:22Failing: not doing taxes
- 29:09Failing: thinking you're special
- 30:36Failing: last-minute work
- 31:18Failing: late delivery
- 34:10Failing: changing direction too much
- 35:15Failing: no clients again
- 35:35Failing: poor communication
- 36:37Failing: no contract
- 37:20How to fail: not sleeping or eating well
- 38:43Failing: no principles
- 39:26Failing: no compromise
- 40:30Failing: being unteachable
- 41:15How to fail: keeping what’s not working
- 41:55Why this talk
- 43:41Q&A
