Failure Is Your Most Underrated Asset

It’s hard to start an innovative business on your own. Notably, 90% of startups fail — often not because the idea was bad, but because of insufficient experience, poor market fit, or a lack of resources. That’s why many early-stage founders turn to investors or venture studios: to gain capital, guidance, and a fighting chance.

But is funding the only thing a startup needs to survive — or succeed? At SEAL Group, we believe the answer is no.

By Tabriz Mamarakhimov, Director of Acquisitions, SEAL Group

We are a venture studio based in Lithuania, investing in local startups across multiple industries — from mobility and automotive to e-commerce and digital infrastructure. Our reach spans six countries and 25+ business verticals, and each business we support gets more than just financial backing — they receive the combined strength, experience, and ecosystem of a proven growth engine.

But even in our most successful stories, there’s a consistent theme we see again and again: failure — early, painful, but transformative failure. And today, I want to make a bold case: failure is your most underrated asset.

Let me explain — not with theory, but with real stories from some of the most iconic startups of our time.

Figma Case

Dylan Field launched Figma with the idea of building something like a cloud-based Photoshop. The first version? Confusing, slow, and lacked product-market fit. The team spent years in silence, misunderstood by users and investors alike.

But they didn’t quit. They listened. They pivoted. They discovered what designers really needed: real-time collaboration.

That insight — born from early failure — led to a platform that Adobe acquired for $20 billion.

Too Simple to Be Taken Seriously

Canva’s founder, Melanie Perkins, was rejected over 100 times by investors. They all said the same thing: “It’s too basic. It won’t scale.”

But she didn’t complicate her vision to impress VCs. She simplified it even more — targeting teachers and students who had no access to professional tools.

Today, over 100 million people use Canva, and the company is valued at over $40 billion.

The Notion team almost shut down, too. They had no runway, and their product wasn’t gaining traction. Instead of folding, they moved into a small apartment in Kyoto and rewrote the entire platform from scratch.

They used failure as an opportunity to rethink everything. The result? One of the most beloved productivity tools in the world.

Selling Cereal to Survive

Airbnb couldn’t raise money. No one believed people would let strangers stay in their homes. Broke and desperate, the founders sold election-themed cereal boxes — “Obama O’s” and “Cap’n McCain’s” — to keep the company alive.

That quirky idea raised $30,000 and drew media attention. It bought them time — just enough to turn their "crazy" idea into a $100+ billion company.

And WhatsApp, famous globally, was considered too boring to invest in. No stickers, no stories — just messaging. Investors didn’t get it.

But that focus on reliability, simplicity, and speed is exactly what made it indispensable to over 2 billion users worldwide.

So, What’s the Lesson?

Startups fail. Teams pivot. Founders question themselves.

That’s not a sign of weakness — it’s a necessary part of the process. In fact:

Figma didn’t succeed because they avoided mistakes — they succeeded because they learned from them.

Canva wasn’t loved by investors — it was loved by users who needed simplicity.

Notion didn’t scale until they first fell apart.

Airbnb sold cereal before they sold room nights.

WhatsApp stayed “boring” — and became vital.

Failure isn’t the opposite of success. It’s the pathway through it. At SEAL Group, We embrace this philosophy. We don’t just invest in finished products. We invest in early visionaries — those still figuring it out. We understand that innovation doesn’t come fully formed. It comes through feedback, friction, and, yes — failure.

That’s why our venture studio model focuses on deep operational involvement, strategic support, and a network of real-world expertise. We help startups fail smarter — and rebound faster.

To every founder, student, hacker, and builder reading this:

Your idea might not work the first time. Or the fifth. But that doesn’t mean it’s wrong. It just means you’re doing something worth refining. So go ahead — build something weird. Break it. Learn. Fail proudly. Because among your failures might be the raw blueprint for your greatest success.

SEAL Group is a Lithuania-based venture studio investing in and growing startups across 25+ industries in six countries.