What did failure and going broke teach me?
Here are some of the top few things I learnt.
1. You rarely learn things overnight.Honestly I learnt things over a period of time.I failed 6 years back and today I feel,yes I have learnt a few things.There is no hurry. No exam happening

2. MOST IMPORTANTLY. Failure isn't the end and it's ok to fail. It is not your desired state of affairs but it won't end. Learn to pick up the pieces and try for another day. As Scarelett O'Hara "After all Tomorrow is another day"
3. Don't romanticise failure. It is not something you want people to go through. While it's important to remind people, world won't end, don't make it look like its some romantic notion that every successful person should go through. It isn't
4. It's absolutely fine not to be able to talk about your failure. There is no greatness in speaking about it. I do, cause I came out of it.And yet it took me time. I know how much I struggled to deal with the blow. How ashamed I felt of letting all down. It's part of the process
5. Go for therapy. If you a start up person, reach out to people. Today's start up world is different. People help each other. Reach out. There is a world out there willing to help you. There will be people who will shun you (but you will find more of them when you successful)
5a. I know therapy is expensive but there are free/cheaper versions available. Do ask for it. Am sure something can be found
6. Make friends. Be kind to people. When you fail, it is they who will pick you. I have said it several times that it's my friends and ex bosses who saved me. From funding me, to ensuring I got jobs without a bat of an eyelid and making it appear like they needed me
7. Once you of it (and this takes time for many), figure where you went wrong. I learnt the following a. I was emotional. Never be b. I mixed my personal emotions for the 1st time. WRONG WRONG WRONG c. I did not trust my gut when I got the warning signal that it wasnt good
7d. I wanted power. I should have hired people better than me to help me improve. WRONG WRONG WRONG. Your loyalty is towards your firm, not you when you start something. If someone else is above you, so be it.
8. If you getting into a start up, get investors who understand the line of business so they can help unless you know things very well
9. Never be afraid to reach out for help. Help is there. Just ask. Someone is always willing to give out a lending hand
10. Learn when to cut your losses and move on or to diversify. It's a business. You there to make profits. Not to have some long term relationship. So stick to that
11. Help your team get re-established. They trusted you and joined you. Now it's your turn to return that trust. Recommend them. Speak to others. Try ensuring the fire in the kitchen continues running. Trust me the goodwill you will earn will far outlive your failure
12. AND THIS IS MOST MOST MOST IMPORTANT. Once you of it and you will be cause people are nice, kind and they will help you, PAY IT FORWARD. Never ever stop paying it forward and when you do, remember to tell them to do the same.
On that note, wishing you an "Unfailed" Life

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Two things can be true at once:
1. There is an issue with hostility some academics have faced on some issues
2. Another academic who himself uses threats of legal action to bully colleagues into silence is not a good faith champion of the free speech cause


I have kept quiet about Matthew's recent outpourings on here but as my estwhile co-author has now seen fit to portray me as an enabler of oppression I think I have a right to reply. So I will.

I consider Matthew to be a colleague and a friend, and we had a longstanding agreement not to engage in disputes on twitter. I disagree with much in the article @UOzkirimli wrote on his research in @openDemocracy but I strongly support his right to express such critical views

I therefore find it outrageous that Matthew saw fit to bully @openDemocracy with legal threats, seeking it seems to stifle criticism of his own work. Such behaviour is simply wrong, and completely inconsistent with an academic commitment to free speech.

I am not embroiling myself in the various other cases Matt lists because, unlike him, I think attention to the detail matters and I don't have time to research each of these cases in detail.

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