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The Fail-Safe Startup: Your Roadmap for Entrepreneurial Success
'Creating something from nothing is a daring act. Tom's wisdom and encouragement will give any reader the confidence to take the leap. ' Eric Ries, bestselling author of The Lean Startup
________________
90% of start-ups fail. But why? And is there a way to avoid the common pitfalls when you start your own business?
Over the past 23 years at Harvard Business School Tom Eisenmann has helped launch thousands of startups. An astonishing 13 of these have reached unicorn status. For a decade he has explored the question of why startups fail and in The Fail-Safe Startup explains how you can succeed against the odds.
Eisenmann's fascinating, often counter-intuitive, advice will help you avoid common mistakes
* Launching too early
* Aiming too high, too soon
* And letting early success lead to misplaced confidence
Drawing on case studies from startups of all shapes and sizes from around the world The Fail-Safe Startup will show you how to analyse the failure of others to ensure your success.
________________
'A must read for any entrepreneur, investor, or startup team member.' Michelle Zatlyn, CEO, Cloudfare
'Eisenmann has truly helped illuminate a path to success by shining a spotlight on common startup failure patterns. His insights are invaluable, whether you're just getting started, or you're eyeing your endgame.' Jenn Hyman, CEO, Rent the Runway
________________
90% of start-ups fail. But why? And is there a way to avoid the common pitfalls when you start your own business?
Over the past 23 years at Harvard Business School Tom Eisenmann has helped launch thousands of startups. An astonishing 13 of these have reached unicorn status. For a decade he has explored the question of why startups fail and in The Fail-Safe Startup explains how you can succeed against the odds.
Eisenmann's fascinating, often counter-intuitive, advice will help you avoid common mistakes
* Launching too early
* Aiming too high, too soon
* And letting early success lead to misplaced confidence
Drawing on case studies from startups of all shapes and sizes from around the world The Fail-Safe Startup will show you how to analyse the failure of others to ensure your success.
________________
'A must read for any entrepreneur, investor, or startup team member.' Michelle Zatlyn, CEO, Cloudfare
'Eisenmann has truly helped illuminate a path to success by shining a spotlight on common startup failure patterns. His insights are invaluable, whether you're just getting started, or you're eyeing your endgame.' Jenn Hyman, CEO, Rent the Runway
368 pages, Paperback
Published April 1, 2021
39 people are currently reading
212 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
June 22, 2021
FULL REVIEW HERE!
Thank you so much to Times Reads for sending me this amazing book to review! This is now available in all good bookstores so do not miss out on this title!
Three-word description : entrepreneurship, failures, analysis
My rating : 4.5 / 5 stars
Hello everyone! I am back with another review and this time it is a non-fiction! I’ve been trying to broaden the genres that I read and I am having a fun time exploring different books across different genres! But I am no way a pro in reviewing them so this is just my thoughts after reading the book and my personal experience with it!
Things I Learnt and Enjoyed ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ
- Insightful and a lot of content!
Let me just start by saying it is such an insightful and perspicacious read for me! It is revolving around startup failures and reasons why startups with huge potential fail and for someone who may be thinking about dipping my toes into entrepreneurship in the future, this is a must read for me! I learnt so much after reading this book, and the author really took time to perfect every section of the book! From the brainstorming to finally executing the plan, there are so many ways that would make a business go downhill or go off the wrong track and there are some very valid reasons that are often ignored by many and I think this is definitely worth a read for anyone who wants to know more about how businesses work and of the many ways they can fail, how one can avoid such mistakes!
I loved the case studies particularly mentioned in the book! I feel they are all so informative and helpful when it comes to explaining concepts and exactly why and how they failed. Not only that, this book also goes on the tangents of starting a business and do’s and don’ts! I love how each chapter focused on one different startup and the author was able to delve into each startup individually with depth from how they came up with the idea to ultimately some reasons that made the startup shut down unsuccessfully. These case studies really pique my interest, I also love how the startup case studies are across different industries, that will give readers a different perspective on failing early stage and also late stage! Another point is that I love how there are comparisons to the powerhouses of different industries, it enhances the reading experience when there are references that we all already know by heart so that was a good touch to the whole reading experience!
Things that Wasn’t For Me ( ´△｀)
- The writing is dense! (But do not take it the wrong way!)
This book is definitely a very professional in depth academic writing styled book written by a professor and I appreciate that very much while reading because it enhances my writing skills also, the language and wordings! But I definitely am not used to reading dense analysis and researches so this is definitely just my personal preference! I find myself slowing down at times because of the writing but I really do appreciate this style of writing, I feel like it could definitely help me for when I go to university someday but it is just that I need to read more of this style to get used to it! If you are okay with it then I do not see anything wrong with it! It just may not be for people who want concepts explained in layman terms, this may be a slightly denser piece for light reading but it is super worth it though!
Conclusion ( ﾟ▽ﾟ)/
Overall, I find myself learning a lot about starting a business and things to avoid and basically if you have to fail, how to fail better. This is all theory though and in reality a thousand more things could go wrong so it is always great to pick up books and materials that will arm you with the knowledge and at least the theory in fields you are venturing into because it is facts and figures after all! I really hope to read more of these books in the future and for anyone who’s starting to pick up books like these (like me), I hope my review is helpful from someone who is still learning to read these books too! I totally will reread this book again when I am older, I think this is a very useful book to seek guidance from especially for people who are planning startups or just want to be enlightened by a professional in the field!
Thank you so much to Times Reads for sending me this amazing book to review! This is now available in all good bookstores so do not miss out on this title!
Three-word description : entrepreneurship, failures, analysis
My rating : 4.5 / 5 stars
Hello everyone! I am back with another review and this time it is a non-fiction! I’ve been trying to broaden the genres that I read and I am having a fun time exploring different books across different genres! But I am no way a pro in reviewing them so this is just my thoughts after reading the book and my personal experience with it!
Things I Learnt and Enjoyed ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ
- Insightful and a lot of content!
Let me just start by saying it is such an insightful and perspicacious read for me! It is revolving around startup failures and reasons why startups with huge potential fail and for someone who may be thinking about dipping my toes into entrepreneurship in the future, this is a must read for me! I learnt so much after reading this book, and the author really took time to perfect every section of the book! From the brainstorming to finally executing the plan, there are so many ways that would make a business go downhill or go off the wrong track and there are some very valid reasons that are often ignored by many and I think this is definitely worth a read for anyone who wants to know more about how businesses work and of the many ways they can fail, how one can avoid such mistakes!
I loved the case studies particularly mentioned in the book! I feel they are all so informative and helpful when it comes to explaining concepts and exactly why and how they failed. Not only that, this book also goes on the tangents of starting a business and do’s and don’ts! I love how each chapter focused on one different startup and the author was able to delve into each startup individually with depth from how they came up with the idea to ultimately some reasons that made the startup shut down unsuccessfully. These case studies really pique my interest, I also love how the startup case studies are across different industries, that will give readers a different perspective on failing early stage and also late stage! Another point is that I love how there are comparisons to the powerhouses of different industries, it enhances the reading experience when there are references that we all already know by heart so that was a good touch to the whole reading experience!
Things that Wasn’t For Me ( ´△｀)
- The writing is dense! (But do not take it the wrong way!)
This book is definitely a very professional in depth academic writing styled book written by a professor and I appreciate that very much while reading because it enhances my writing skills also, the language and wordings! But I definitely am not used to reading dense analysis and researches so this is definitely just my personal preference! I find myself slowing down at times because of the writing but I really do appreciate this style of writing, I feel like it could definitely help me for when I go to university someday but it is just that I need to read more of this style to get used to it! If you are okay with it then I do not see anything wrong with it! It just may not be for people who want concepts explained in layman terms, this may be a slightly denser piece for light reading but it is super worth it though!
Conclusion ( ﾟ▽ﾟ)/
Overall, I find myself learning a lot about starting a business and things to avoid and basically if you have to fail, how to fail better. This is all theory though and in reality a thousand more things could go wrong so it is always great to pick up books and materials that will arm you with the knowledge and at least the theory in fields you are venturing into because it is facts and figures after all! I really hope to read more of these books in the future and for anyone who’s starting to pick up books like these (like me), I hope my review is helpful from someone who is still learning to read these books too! I totally will reread this book again when I am older, I think this is a very useful book to seek guidance from especially for people who are planning startups or just want to be enlightened by a professional in the field!
July 6, 2025
I picked up The Fail-Safe Startup because I’ve always kept the dream of building my own business alive—quietly, but persistently—in the back of my mind. From my past experiences dabbling in small ventures, I know firsthand that running a business is never easy. In fact, it’s often 5–10 times harder than climbing the corporate ladder. This book didn’t just remind me of those lessons—it laid them out with far more structure and clarity.
Tom Eisenmann doesn’t romanticize the startup journey. Instead, he breaks down why even well-funded, promising startups fail—often not because of a lack of effort or intelligence, but due to systemic missteps in decision-making, team dynamics, product-market fit, and scaling too early. I appreciated how the book dissects failure across different types of startups: founder-led, investor-driven, or innovation spun out from within corporations.
One of the most eye-opening insights for me was how premature scaling—whether in hiring, marketing, or product features—can be more deadly than lack of scale. Eisenmann dives into technical concepts like cohort analysis, burn rate mismanagement, and flawed go-to-market strategies that, if ignored, can quietly lead a business to collapse. The case studies are detailed and brutally honest, making it clear that good intentions and hard work aren’t always enough.
The book also highlights how complexity grows exponentially as more stakeholders come into play—be it investors with different agendas or the internal organizational structure. With each added layer, decision-making becomes messier, and alignment becomes harder. This hit home for me. It reinforced that while the idea of “growing fast” is exciting, without the right foundation, growth can actually accelerate failure.
Overall, The Fail-Safe Startup gave me both a dose of reality and a deeper respect for founders who succeed—not just despite failure, but because they’ve learned how to anticipate and manage it. #wulsread
Tom Eisenmann doesn’t romanticize the startup journey. Instead, he breaks down why even well-funded, promising startups fail—often not because of a lack of effort or intelligence, but due to systemic missteps in decision-making, team dynamics, product-market fit, and scaling too early. I appreciated how the book dissects failure across different types of startups: founder-led, investor-driven, or innovation spun out from within corporations.
One of the most eye-opening insights for me was how premature scaling—whether in hiring, marketing, or product features—can be more deadly than lack of scale. Eisenmann dives into technical concepts like cohort analysis, burn rate mismanagement, and flawed go-to-market strategies that, if ignored, can quietly lead a business to collapse. The case studies are detailed and brutally honest, making it clear that good intentions and hard work aren’t always enough.
The book also highlights how complexity grows exponentially as more stakeholders come into play—be it investors with different agendas or the internal organizational structure. With each added layer, decision-making becomes messier, and alignment becomes harder. This hit home for me. It reinforced that while the idea of “growing fast” is exciting, without the right foundation, growth can actually accelerate failure.
Overall, The Fail-Safe Startup gave me both a dose of reality and a deeper respect for founders who succeed—not just despite failure, but because they’ve learned how to anticipate and manage it. #wulsread
June 13, 2021
Founders need the tools to manage failure in just the same way as they need the tools to help them growth hack or build an outbound sales team.
The Fail Safe startup therefore fills an enormous void in the abundant library of startup advice.
The Fail Safe startup therefore fills an enormous void in the abundant library of startup advice.
October 26, 2022
Listened to it as an Audiobook.
Very cool book which helps you to better understand the risks, traps and wrong turns that a founder can take along the entire startup journey from foundation to IPO which can cause the startup to fail.
Very cool book which helps you to better understand the risks, traps and wrong turns that a founder can take along the entire startup journey from foundation to IPO which can cause the startup to fail.
Want to read
September 27, 20209/27/20 found it through a Venture Capitalist named James Courier, who founded NFX. James was Prof Eissenmans student at HBS too. Podcast is here https://luminary.link/q6oFaOtR79
December 21, 2022
This book is amazing for case study regarding failed startups and explains problems that are avoided by early stage startups.Great for entrepreneurs🤟🤟
March 9, 2024
i am not into business so not my my cuppa tea
November 12, 2025
The letter at the end was great! :)
December 7, 2024
It's a great book for those who have a startup in every stage/aspiring to have one. Helps with specific knowledge on how to prevent failures in this sector. Nice to have as a handbook in the startup for creating strategies or being inspired but not an easy or relaxing book so I read for several months during my focus time.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews