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𝗟𝗶𝗻𝗸𝗲𝗱𝗜𝗻 𝗙𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝗥𝗲𝗶𝗱 𝗛𝗼𝗳𝗳𝗺𝗮𝗻 𝗼𝗻 𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗙𝗮𝗶𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗘𝗮𝗿𝗹𝘆 𝗖𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗠𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗮 𝗕𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗶𝗿𝗲 Most people think if their first startup fails, they’ve failed. But that’s not true. Even 𝗥𝗲𝗶𝗱 𝗛𝗼𝗳𝗳𝗺𝗮𝗻 — founder of LinkedIn — failed with his first startup, SocialNet. Before starting, he told his dad: "𝐈𝐭’𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐟𝐮𝐥." 𝗪𝗵𝘆? Because most startups fail. Even great founders can’t “bat 1000.” That’s why Reid says you must think long-term: Go 𝐚𝐥𝐥-𝐢𝐧 on your current startup. But 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐧 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐱𝐭 𝐠𝐚𝐦𝐞 if this one doesn’t work out. 𝗔𝗻𝗱 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗴𝗮𝗺𝗲 𝗺𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀: Build strong 𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩𝐬 with investors, cofounders, and customers. 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐮𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 — you’ll carry it into the future. 𝐋𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧 𝐟𝐚𝐬𝐭 — every setback is a lesson. Failure isn’t a verdict on you. It’s a stepping stone. 𝐑𝐞𝐢𝐝 𝐟𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐭 𝐒𝐨𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥𝐍𝐞𝐭. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐝 𝐏𝐚𝐲𝐏𝐚𝐥. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐋𝐢𝐧𝐤𝐞𝐝𝐈𝐧. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐚 𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐞. Your first shot may miss. Your second too. But if you stay in the game — learning and building — you’ll eventually win. Your success might just be 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐮𝐩 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲.