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This is where I am coming from: I regularly review books in the
area of innovation, with a particular focus on practical insights
for founders, IP professionals, and corporate innovators. You can
find my previous reviews in the "Book Reviews" department here on my
webite.
Over time, I have come to recognize that there are several
distinct audiences in innovation: there are start-up founders,
owners and successors of small-to-medium-sized companies (SMEs),
and there are also those working in corporate innovation
roles—often called Corporate Entrepreneurs, Intrapreneurs, or Dual Innovation Leaders. Each of these
audiences faces different challenges, and I aim to understand their
unique perspectives. Steve Taplin's book "Fail Hard. Win
Big. Repeat" adds a valuable layer to this broader view. It
complements my own work, especially The 4×4 Innovation
Strategy, which maps out how to avoid systemic innovation
failure, and my online course "Why Start-ups Usually Fail".
Together, these resources provide a multi-angle lens for
understanding innovation—not just from theory or process, but
from painful, real-life experience.
Consequently, I will write the following book review from the
perspective of a creator, teacher, and user of an entire framework
built to diagnose and prevent innovation failure in real-world
ventures.
Why Taplin Wrote This Book: Turning Painful Failure into a
Startup Survival Guide
Taplin's goal is not to glamorize failure, but to dissect it
— through 20 real startup collapses. His message is clear:
failure is not optional, but wasting the lessons is.
Taplin's book includes several failure stories, but one
notable example is the story of Steve Taplin's own failure with
a business he was certain would succeed (it starts on page 328 of
the electronic copy of the book that Steve has sent me for this
review). Despite having a solid concept, a ready market, and a
strong team, his venture ultimately collapsed due to ignored
warning signs, misplaced trust, and a failure to pivot when
necessary. This failure led to significant financial loss, shaken
confidence, and personal devastation. It would have been
interesting to find out more about the details of this failure but
I can also understand that Steve does not go deeper than that
admission.
Hard-Earned Startup Truths: The Core Lessons from 20
Failures
Across the chapters, Taplin drills home consistent themes: sell
before you build, founders matter more than ideas, and investor
money cannot save a broken model.
One of the most critical truths is the importance of selling
before building — ensuring there is a real demand for the
product or service before investing heavily in development. He also
highlights that the success of a startup often hinges more on the
founders than the idea itself, as their leadership, resilience, and
decision-making drive the business forward. Additionally, Taplin
underscores that investor money cannot fix a fundamentally flawed
business model, stressing the need for a solid foundation and
strategy before seeking external funding. These lessons serve as a
guide for entrepreneurs to navigate the challenges of building and
scaling a business.
Where Taplin Fits in the Innovation Literature: Street-Level
Lean Thinking
Taplin's approach echoes the Lean Startup movement and
shares DNA with The 4×4 Innovation Strategy: market-first
thinking and a rejection of theoretical planning.
He advocates for validating ideas in the market before
committing significant resources, rejecting the traditional
reliance on rigid business plans. His philosophy centers on
adaptability, learning from failures, and pivoting quickly to meet
market demands. By prioritizing execution and customer needs over
perfection, Taplin's methodology resonates with entrepreneurs
seeking practical, actionable strategies to innovate and scale
effectively in dynamic environments.
What Makes This Book Different: Raw, Relatable, and Brutally
Honest
Unlike other business books, Taplin names mistakes most founders
hide—burned partnerships, wasted millions, and emotional
breakdowns. He spares no ego, including his own.
This is why Steve Taplin's book stands out in the crowded
field of business literature due to its unflinching honesty and
relatability. Unlike many other entrepreneurial guides that focus
solely on success stories, Taplin openly shares the mistakes and
failures that shaped his journey—burned partnerships,
financial missteps, and moments of personal struggle. He
doesn't shy away from exposing the hard truths, including his
own shortcomings, offering readers a transparent and authentic
account of the challenges faced in building businesses. This raw
approach makes the book a refreshing and valuable resource for
entrepreneurs seeking real-world lessons and insights.
Does Taplin Succeed? Only If You Are Willing to Read Between
the Failures
While Taplin offers no framework, his message succeeds if
readers look beyond the storytelling and see the repeatable
patterns—especially those tied to missing traction, scaling
too early, or chasing branding over buyers.
Steve Taplin's book doesn't present a step-by-step
framework, but its success lies in the lessons hidden within the
raw storytelling. Readers who are willing to dig deeper and analyze
the patterns behind his failures—such as the dangers of
scaling too early, neglecting traction, or prioritizing branding
over actual customer needs—will uncover valuable insights.
Taplin's candid recounting of his missteps serves as a
cautionary tale, encouraging entrepreneurs to identify and avoid
similar pitfalls. The book's true value emerges for those who
can connect the dots and apply these lessons to their own ventures,
turning Taplin's hard-earned wisdom into actionable strategies
for success.
A Gritty Counterpoint to Strategy Books: When to Read This
Instead of the Classics
If my own "4×4 Innovation Strategy" is a
diagnostic map, Taplin's book is a case log from the Emergency
Room ("ER"). It will not teach you how to
innovate—but it will show you what real failure smells like.
And you want to avoid that!
The comparison between my "4×4 Innovation
Strategy" and Steve Taplin's "Fail Hard, Win
Big" offers a gritty juxtaposition of approaches to
entrepreneurship and innovation. While my strategy serves as a
structured diagnostic map, meticulously guiding inventors through
the complexities of innovation, intellectual property, and
commercialization, Steve Taplin's book is akin to a raw case
log from the ER, vividly illustrating the visceral reality of
failure in entrepreneurship. While my own framework equips
innovators with tools to avoid pitfalls and navigate the innovation
landscape methodically, Steve Taplin's narrative immerses
readers in the chaos and lessons of failure, emphasizing resilience
and the transformative power of setbacks. For those seeking a
detailed roadmap to innovation, my own work is helpful. However,
when the focus shifts to understanding the emotional and practical
lessons of failure, Steve Taplin's book becomes the essential
read, showing readers what failure truly feels like and how it can
be leveraged for future success.
Conclusion: Should You Read It? Yes—If You Are About to
Quit Your Job to Launch a Startup
Steve Taplin's "Fail Hard, Win Big" is a
must-read for aspiring entrepreneurs who are on the brink of
leaving their jobs to embark on their first startup journey or for
those who are navigating the aftermath of a failed venture. Unlike
books tailored for advisors, venture capitalists, or theorists,
this book speaks directly to founders, offering a raw and
unfiltered look at the realities of entrepreneurship. It
doesn't sugarcoat the challenges or provide a polished
framework for success; instead, it digs into the gritty truths of
failure and the invaluable lessons it can teach. For those who
resonate with the struggles of Gene from my "4×4
Innovation Strategy," Steve Taplin's book serves as a
lifeline, offering insights that could prevent them from repeating
the same mistakes. It is a guide for those who are ready to face
the harsh realities of building a business and emerge stronger,
wiser, and more prepared for the road ahead.
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