Abstract
“For entrepreneurs… failure is thought to be both pervasive and unavoidable.” (Allen et al., 2021, p. 707)
If founder failure has been acknowledged as ‘pervasive and unavoidable’ for over two hundred years (Sandage, 2005), where are the detailed investigations into that failure? This dissertation questions portions of our current practitioner and academic understanding of failure via autoethnography. It explores situations where failure appears to be simultaneously styled as unavoidable and unacceptable. Finally, it invites readers to consider the following:
“How is failure culturally viewed today? Is it a yucky swear word? Can entrepreneurial failure be the end of narrative? Or do we demand a sequel?” (p. 23)