The Tech-bro Start-up Myth

Christopher. S. Sellers
Nov 4
2 min read

Yesterday I read a super successful tech-bro boldly declare that the survival rate of start-ups (1:10) is due to 'market forces'... ie: luck.

He's wrong.

I'm sure he has five penthouses and a private jet and he's still wrong, here's why...

Tech-bro looks at the landscape as it is.

He identifies that statistically only 1:10 projects survive.

He reasons that if he makes ten bets, one will hit.

Tech-bro bleeds money for years, finally lands one profitable project and declares it proof of success!

Tech-bros, VC's and Executives, all see the same landscape, accept the same reasoning and play the same game, at the same odds, for the same outcomes.

1:10.

What if there was a better way?

What if the odds were 1:5... what's that worth to you?

I come along.

I see the landscape for what it is, but I ask...

"What skills go into designing innovation where 90% of projects fail?

And what thinking validates these same projects for investment"?

See, what Tech-bros don't see, is that it's not the 90% of start-ups that fail that is the issue – it is that 90% of FUNDED start-ups fail – Tech-bros don't see all the projects that DIDN'T receive funding or understand why.

This 1:10 statistic is reporting on how overwhelmingly weak creative ideas are validated for investment... and then fail.

Skeptical?

Theranos... FTX... The Segway... were considered the 1:10 successes.

To see the landscape as it is – to gamble and lose, nine times more than you win – is the kind of thinking that wastes years and burns your capital.

So what if there was a better way to ideate, innovate and execute?

What if your odds where 1:5... hell, 1:8... what's that worth to you?

If you want a better way, talk to me about auditing your innovation process to understand the creative thinking, skills and process you need to design billion dollar solutions.

Or you can read my book, WHY SMART PEOPLE AREN'T CREATIVE : Solving the billion dollar gap between ideas and innovation - link here.

#ai #creativity #innovation #designthinking #disruption #investment #vc #casestudy #venturecapital #validation #ideation #startup