Entrepreneurs: Ten of the Worst Failures of 2016

Anyone who is reasonably successful understand that failure is a good thing! It shows your weaknesses and area of opportunity you missed. Successful entrepreneurs take those lessons to heart, pick themselves up and start all over again. It’s a mindset. It’s mental toughness. It’s a strong desire to succeed! We love failure. Bring it on! The problem is that from time to time, an entrepreneur’s failure goes from being a learning experience to an act that truly harms. It harms their employees, their business and their investors.

Top Ten Worst Entrepreneurs of 2016

Steve Tobak, former senior executive and author of Real Leaders Don’t Follow, recently published the shameful list in an article for Entrepreneur magazine.

1. Elizabeth Holmes, founder and CEO, Theranos
2. Parker Conrad, founder and former CEO, Zenefits
3. Josh Tetrick, founder and CEO, Hampton Creek
4. Gurbaksh Chahal, founder and CEO, Gravity4
5. Dinesh Lathi, former CEO, One Kings Lane
6. Shervin Pishevar and Brogan BamBrogan, cofounders, HyperLoop One
7. Jessica Alba and Chris Gavigan, cofounders, the Honest Company
8. Dave McClure, founder, 500 Startups
9. Shani Higgins, CEO, Technorati
10. Matt Harrigan, founder and former CEO, PacketSled

Failure of Epic Scale

These entrepreneurs didn’t just make a mistake, they caused serious harm. They let their character fail them and the ego to take over their decision-making processes. The fact is that when challenged, the one thing that brings you through is your character. The old saying is that in the absence of authority, character is how you act. The only good part about these massive failures from 2016 is that good leaders can look and learn from these entrepreneurs.

You can read more about this character lesson here.