Failed startups in CV

Question

Hi All,

Given that many schools no longer ask for failure essays, how should one mention failed startup experience in CV?
How will adcom view this experience?

- cj

MBAPrepCoach · Answer

Hi cj, I wouldn't take the absence of failure essay prompts as indication that failed startup owners are being shamed and/or should stay in the closet. Many of my candidates have made this a focus of their admissions essays, and gotten into top schools despite having otherwise weak profiles. I take this to mean their essays were considered a strong aspect of the application.

We have just mentioned them in the employment history, if they quit a FT job, and focused on consulting revenue derived, experienced gained, whatever positives we can bring forth. If it's an on-the-side startup, hmm. I guess you could include this in additional information and there's no rule you have to include the F word.

Hope this helps!
Farrell

Admissionado · Answer

Failed startups can be AMAZING experiences to learn from! And can make great stories. It all depends on what you have to tell though. I mean as you fail - you are getting investment, negotiating, making market studies, leading people, coming up with strategies etc.etc. Of course success is better!

But failures can be awesome. The rule of thumb is the harder you fail the better. What I mean is that if your startup is a two-man operation trying to make an app, it's not impressive. If you got 500,000 angel investment, managed 30 people for a while and THEN failed, its much more interesting. Makes sense? I hope so! cheers, Jon

StratusDonna · Answer

This is a great question and in general I think we are all still too afraid of failing instead of embracing the learning. Even if not asked specifically about a failure in the essay- there are many opportunities to show reflection and growth either through interviews or mentioning on CV what the experience was and then in bullets reflecting on some of the growth from the experience. Schools do want to see a self aware applicant- one who knows what they still need to work on and also one who knows where their strengths are. So failure and success are both important and really the only way to live a full life-- hopefully reframing failure as places to better understand your areas for growth helps to destigmatize failure. What is important when talking about failure is to be confident and show that you can bounce back from all kinds of difficult situations. Having composure under crisis is a great skill to cultivate and being able to talk about failure with confidence is also the sign of a strong leader. Hope this helps!

Failed startups in CV

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