As a serial entrepreneur, I have had to overcome many setbacks.
The first setback was not receiving funding for my first venture.
The venture actually proved profitable. As did this particular site, but these things were very random.
There have been many personal failures throughout my life. One of the earliest failures were failures in relationships.
There were many problems that led me to perform poorly in relationships, but then there were other issues that arose. These issues were mostly self-made.
I realize now that the successful say "no" more than they say "yes." Anyone who wants to become successful in a start-up must evaluate each opportunity and use a great deal of discernment because the pain of failure is very hard for the average person to understand. Failing causes one to re-evaluate one's entire life.
The failure causes others to perceive that person differently also. Others may question your competency when you fail and perceive you to be less talented. Perception is reality.
These feelings of doubt may plague the entrepreneur for months or even years and this loss of confidence definitely affects the likelihood of the entrepreneur taking risks in the future.
The bruise to one's ego may increase feelings of inadequacy, depression, and even provoke thoughts of suicide.
There are plenty of entrepreneurs that have lost their homes, livelihoods and most of all their investors in bad ventures. This loss can be incredibly discouraging.
I made plenty of fair-weather friends while I was the high-flying playboy at Carnegie Mellon.
The friends that I made in the past were totally opportunistic leeches.
"Evil draws men together."-Aristotle
I am pretty certain that most of the behaviours that I partook in with these so-called friends was necessary.
In spite of everything that occurred within my life, I do not regret those trying times. Those losses taught me valuable lessons and have influenced my future objectives.