In the beginning, nothing happens and no one notices
MrBeast, one of the most famous YouTubers, after uploading for three years 265 videos, received little recognition. His channel would receive only ~10K views per month and ~50 new subscribers per month 1. Now, he receives over 500K views per hour, per video, and over seven million subscribers each month.
The first Harry Potter book only had a print run of 500 copies 2; 200 were sold and 300 were distributed, to libraries. Author J.K. Rowling, who was on welfare, had received only a $4K advance (~$8K in 2024.) The Harry Potter series has now sold over 600 million copies worldwide.
James Dyson made 5,127 vacuum prototypes that failed before creating a successful model.
Steve Jobs’ and Steve Wozniak’s first product, the “Apple I”, sold 175 units.
Elon Musk and SpaceX failed the first three rocket launch attempts. Twenty years later, they pulled off 96 successful missions in a year.
Rovio produced 51 games with little financial success. On the verge of bankruptcy, their 52nd attempt was Angry Birds. To this day, Angry Birds has been downloaded over 3 billion times, making it the most downloaded freemium game series of all time.
Elvis Presley’s first recordings received little radio airplay. He then went on to become the best-selling solo music artist of all time.
Stephen King’s first horror novel, Carrie, was rejected thirty times before being published and launching King into fame.
U2 were initially poor and unrecognised. Their debut album received modest success. After seven years, their fifth album “The Joshua Tree” was released and catapulted the band to global fame. They won multiple Grammys and sold over 180 million records.
The Huffington Post struggled to gain a readership, during its first year. Critics dubbed the site as “unprofessional.” Huffington and her team didn’t give up. Just six years after being deemed a failure, the website was acquired by AOL for $315 million.
Humble beginnings
You publish your first, best article.
No one reads it.
You record your first, best song.
No listens.
You upload your first, best video.
No views.
Disappointment sets.
You think about quitting.
You believe you’re not good at it.
Maybe you should try something else.
Expectations
Why did you expect a different result?
This is normal.
It’s supposed to suck.
It’s supposed to be difficult.
How else would you identify those who want it?
Society has filled our hearts with expectations.
So much pressure, from all angles.
Success should come easy.
Failure isn’t an option.
Survivorship bias
It’s hard to keep at it without getting results.
Success is all around us.
Why are failing?
It’s our survivorship bias.
We focus on the successful ones.
We fail to see the ones who didn’t make it.
We don’t notice all the re-tries, mishaps, failures, and rejections.
Success, virality, and fame are not that frequent.
Only 0.01% of five billion people might become successful.
The rest 99.99% will not.
We should stop comparing ourselves with the 0.01%.
Detach effort from outcome
Your task is to hone your craft.
To ignore the outcome.
To keep practicing.
To worry about the outcome is not a creator’s job.
A creator’s job is to create and release.
Keep creating.
Keep releasing.
Initial obstacle = failure
Initial setbacks and low traction do not necessarily spell failure.
Another failed prototype does not mean ruin.
Low sales aren’t an indicator of quality.
But successful people got lucky, didn’t they?
In reality, they tried, failed, and failed again until they got lucky!
“The master has failed more times than the beginner has even tried.”
— Stephen McCranie
Progress comes only after reaching failure.
Failure is data.
Failure is an indicator to try again.
Use failure to improve your next iteration.