EPISODE · Aug 25, 2021 · 39 MIN
HBS's Tom Eisennman on why startups fail
from This Much I Know - The Seedcamp Podcast · host Carlos Espinal
90% of startups fail. For early-stage founders, this can come from both false positives or negatives. Two factors include: bias towards early adopters vs. mainstream customers, that are mostly necessary to scale, or giving up too early on a project that turns out to be a billion-dollar business idea a couple of months later. Tom Eisenmann, Professor at Harvard Business School, discusses this and much more in his recently published book '*The Fail-Safe Startup'*. In this episode of This Much I Know, our hosts Kate McGinn and Carlos Espinal have a chat with Tom to cover topics at the heart of founder journeys. This includes a few key factors to keep in mind for early-stage founders, such as MVP testing or upfront customer discovery work. Tune in to hear more about what Tom observes in academia around patterns both founder and investors tend to follow! Show notes: Tom Eisenmann: twitter.com/teisenmann Tom's book: penguin.co.uk/books/315/315444/the-fail-safe-startup/9780241420171.html Kate McGinn: twitter.com/ktmcgn Carlos Espinal - twitter.com/cee Seedcamp - seedcamp.com
What this episode covers
90% of startups fail. For early-stage founders, this can come from both false positives or negatives. Two factors include: bias towards early adopters vs. mainstream customers, that are mostly necessary to scale, or giving up too early on a project that turns out to be a billion-dollar business idea a couple of months later. Tom Eisenmann, Professor at Harvard Business School, discusses this and much more in his recently published book '*The Fail-Safe Startup'*. In this episode of This Much I Know, our hosts Kate McGinn and Carlos Espinal have a chat with Tom to cover topics at the heart of founder journeys. This includes a few key factors to keep in mind for early-stage founders, such as MVP testing or upfront customer discovery work. Tune in to hear more about what Tom observes in academia around patterns both founder and investors tend to follow! Show notes: Tom Eisenmann: twitter.com/teisenmann Tom's book: penguin.co.uk/books/315/315444/the-fail-safe-startup/9780241420171.html Kate McGinn: twitter.com/ktmcgn Carlos Espinal - twitter.com/cee Seedcamp - seedcamp.com
NOW PLAYING
HBS's Tom Eisennman on why startups fail
No transcript for this episode yet
Similar Episodes
Mar 26, 2026 ·1m
Mar 19, 2026 ·34m
Feb 18, 2026 ·11m
Feb 11, 2026 ·45m