Tom Eisenmann teaches entrepreneurship at Harvard Business School (HBS), including a course on startup failure. In Why Startups Fail, he has tapped into the rich network of HBS grads who have started companies to uncover six reasons why many of those startups failed. More importantly, he has deeply explored the decisions that entrepreneurs make along the startup journey, the tradeoffs involved, and how to approach those decisions in a way that increases the likelihood of success. In short, while the six patterns that account for most startup failures provide the title for the book, the really valuable lessons taught in the book are reflected in the book’s subtitle.
Why Startups Fail has become one of my favorite books to recommend to entrepreneurs. The first third of the book covers the decisions that early stage startups face and the three patterns that lead to failure during that phase. The second third covers the decisions that scaling startups face and the associated failure patterns. The final section of the book deals with the challenges founders of failing startups face, both in the wind-down and beyond. As an entrepreneur, wherever you are in that journey, this book has valuable lessons for you.