Event: Learn from 500 failed startups and a bankrupt VC

Image credit: Pixabay.

Failure. No one likes to admit to it, but we all take leaps of faith sometimes – and flop. All the more reason to discuss it, right? I don’t mean this in a talk-about-your-feelings kind of way (though sharing for sharing’s sake certainly has benefits). I mean that there are tangible, constructive benefits in talking about your failures, especially in the startup world.

What can we constructively learn from failure – ours and others’? That’s the question Startup Thailand wants to help you answer.  Held in cities throughout the country, Startup Thailand’s main event will be held in Bangkok on 6-9 July this year. As part of the event, put on by Thailand’s Ministry of Science and Technology, two speaking sessions will be dedicated to exploring failure from both startups and entrepreneurs.

Startup Thailand’s theme this year is “Startup Thailand, Scale up Asia.” If you have failed before and want to learn how to fail better, consider checking out these events to explore how a misstep in a startup can lead to a scale-up.

See: 4 startups going to Thailand that caught our eye

Learning from 500 failed startups

Image credit: Statistic Brain.

How does one distinguish a successful startup that learns from its failures along the way from a failed startup? What can we learn from failed startups to perhaps turn that around into something better? Is the road to success paved with failure? Yozma Consulting founder and CEO Yossi Shavit says yes. His keynote speech at Startup Thailand will explore why failure is normal for startups.

Startup failures are many and common – it’s part of the ecosystem. Many of us have scoured stories dissecting such a company, trying to understand what went wrong and figure out how to avoid doing the same. Yossi’s keynote takes into account the failures of 500 startups and crafts a lesson around them.

Yossi is founder and CEO of Yozma Consulting, an Israel-based business consulting firm which has been around since 2005. It serves three components of the tech and innovation ecosystem: early stage startups and entrepreneurs; investors and international organizations; and the academic, business, and public sectors. Yossi’s current positions also include CEO of BGU Innovation Labs and CEO of tech accelerator Inno-Negev.

A venture capitalist confesses

Image credit: Chinaccelerator.

Once, he and his co-founders tried to run a startup incubation program inspired by Shark Tank. They invested in 16 startups in nine months. Lack of experience on the part of both the startups and the incubator led to losses and a lack of proper guidance for the fledgling companies. Its saving grace? Being bought out.

It’s easy to get used to thinking of VCs as the big dogs. Entrepreneurs are often pitching to them, waiting for a potentially lifesaving round of funding to get through the next few months. But at the end of the day, VCs are staffed by humans, and they also make mistakes and fail.

Startup Thailand will feature a keynote speech from Andrew Tan, managing partner at TinkBig Venture, who continues to invest throughout the business world. He currently serves as founder and managing director of Luxury Boutique Accommodation, CEO of Malaysian equity crowdfunding platform CrowdPlus.Asia, and a mentor at Chinaccelerator.

He has also faced bankruptcy twice. Andrew’s no stranger to being open about the trials and tribulations of running a VC. Andrew’s session will touch on his personal history while also offering insight into the global startup environment, which he has predicted to be somewhat a rough ride this year.

See these startups and more at Startup Thailand 2017. Expect international keynote speakers, forums, and involvement from governments and universities.

Startups can sign up to exhibit here. Foreign delegates and exhibitors are encouraged to attend.

This is part of the coverage of Startup Thailand 2017 Scale up Asia, an international event for startups taking place on July 6 – 9, 2017 in Bangkok.