Failures I'm Grateful For

The projects that flopped taught me more than the ones that succeeded. Here's what failure actually looks like.

Published: 2025-11-18 · 6 min read

I've launched over 20 projects. Many are still running. Some became meaningful businesses. But the ones that failed? They taught me everything I know.

Circle of Awesomeness

An everyday carry bag based on the singular geometry of the circle. The idea was brilliant - quick access by deploying contents in their entirety, like a flower blooming open.

Beautiful prototype. Terrible unit economics.

What it taught me: Physical product design requires different iteration cycles than software. The prototyping costs and manufacturing minimums made rapid experimentation impossible. Hardware is hard for a reason.

Invisible Galleries

Social ecommerce connecting street artists with the power of the web. Art from the unseen.

The problem? Many street artists value authenticity and anti-commercialism. They were uncomfortable with monetization.

What it taught me: Deeply understand community values before building. What seems helpful might feel intrusive.

World Wild Drones

Synthetic animal skins for drones, raising awareness about threatened species through urban intervention. An art-activism project.

The awareness it generated was real. The business model wasn't.

What it taught me: Art projects with technology require different success metrics. Sometimes impact matters more than revenue.

Atomic Farms & Open Farm Base

Two attempts at the home farming space. Modular growing systems. Collaborative knowledge platforms.

Both struggled with the same problem: bootstrapping communities and content simultaneously.

What it taught me: Community-driven content platforms need critical mass to be useful. The chicken-and-egg problem is real.

FaveMyDeals

A no-code platform for SaaS founders to share deals and connect with early users.

Two-sided marketplaces are hard. Building supply (deals) and demand (users) simultaneously requires different strategies for each side.

The pattern

Every failure shares a theme: I built before I understood the market deeply enough. The lessons were expensive but invaluable.

These archived projects aren't embarrassments. They're education.