FAILING AT FINSERVEThe difference between failing fast and failing slow

3 Companies with different results

Slow Fail Fast Fail So Far So Good

My First Fast Fail

Slow and steady growth

More complicated story

Initially, it looked like it would work• We had meetings

• People paid to join

• People agreed to become Board Members

• We were in the paper

Brought in great fin tech companies

Raised $1.6 million from Peter Thiel and 500 Startups

But people liked to invest locally

Couldn’t sell enough memberships

It didn’t take off

The moment where the feedback hit me

• Feedback is a powerful tool

• A few people I respect pulled me aside and asked me if this niche format was really working

• I fought it for awhile

• I thought I could work through the challenge

Merged with St. Louis Arch Angels

…which really meant they saved me

I thought failure was fast• It was over in an instant

• There was no way to fight it

This type of failure is rare

However, slow failure can be disguised as something else – you make the call

We are pushed to believe that failure is a lack of will

Companies don’t always work• Not for a lack of hard work

• Not because you’re not smart

• Not because you aren’t a real entrepreneur

Soul Searching• Somebody wanted me

to fail

• I was never given the resources to succeed

• People didn’t support me

• NONE OF THIS WAS TRUE

Hard to quit when it’s your creation

I had a market insight, not a customer insight

Failing with grace• The entire concept didn’t work, but there were things I

built that did have value

• Turn those next things into your next business

• The due diligence team I built for FinServe lives on with the Arch Angels and Cultivation Capital

• This team did diligence on 16 companies, eight of which got funded for a total of $2.5 million

Good advice from Nixon

Always give your best; never get discouraged; never be petty. Always remember others may hate you, but those who hate you don't win unless you hate them, and then you destroy yourself.

In Summary• We fail sometimes even when at first it appears to be

working

• We need people who give us real feedback – don’t stop until someone doesn’t like your idea

• Figure out the value you are creating, and double down

• Customer is something you never stop learning about