I’ve been hoping someone might offer a clear thought about why the blind reverence for failure in tech has always felt so deeply suspicious. Here’s Kara Swisher, from her recent Burn Book (2024), an otherwise excellent personal and industry history:

I have never seen a more powerful and rich group of people who saw themselves as the victim so intensely. Which is why, by nature, they insisted on reframing every failure and mistake they made as an asset—even when it was a failure and, sometimes, a very damaging mistake. Of course, they loved quoting Edison’s quaint trope: “I have not failed. I’ve just found ten thousand ways that won’t work.” But this declaration leaves out a lot about who’s responsible when things go terribly awry and real people get hurt.