Post by AustrianStartups

❗ We need failure for innovation, entrepreneurship and success. Yet in Austria, we still stigmatize it instead of celebrating the people who try something new. It's time for a modern failure culture. That's why we created "Fail to Succeed," together with the Bundeskanzleramt Österreich and Bundesministerium für Wirtschaft, Energie und Tourismus. Alexander P. opened the event with an observation from the US: founders there talk openly about failure. In Austria, we still need to learn to do that and this will take time. Elisabeth Zehetner picked up on that point: the right mindset is the basis for everything. What we need in Austria is more curiosity, and real second chances for people who try again. Innovation only happens when people try new things. That's exactly what the three founders, Raoul Felix Maier, Sander van de Rijdt and Anna Greil, then showed with their own failure stories. They all had different paths and learnings, but one thing they had in common: failure isn't the opposite of success, it's the foundation for it. Failing means learning, getting better, and not making the same mistake twice. From there, we moved into a fishbowl discussion, where the room opened up even further and we heard many more personal and inspiring stories around failure. 🇪🇺 What came out of all of it: we need a European dream. One where trying, failing, and trying again is rewarded, not punished. That requires a mindset change on a societal level, but also on a political one. Thanks to Alexander P., Elisabeth Zehetner, Raoul Felix Maier, Sander van de Rijdt and Anna Greil for bringing the topic of failure onto a stage. Thank you to Hannah Wundsam for moderating, and thank you to everyone who joined the fishbowl discussion and shared their personal story. 👇 Share your failure and the learning that came with it in the comments. 📸 Fotos: Copyright BKA / Valentin Brauneis