Four people in a marathon broke something and continued to run. If you quit a marathon after mile eight, you failed. Once we set that finish line of 26.2 miles, we grade it past fail. So the progress along the way doesn't matter. It's not that you ran 20 miles. That's not the way we think about it. And that's true of anything. You're 300 yards from the summit of Everest and you don't actually summit the mountain you failed. Never mind that you climbed higher than almost any human being ever has.
Our guest is Annie Duke, a retired pro poker player and First Round’s Special Partner focused on Decision Science. She’s also the author of the bestselling book, “Thinking in Bets.”
In today’s conversation, we’re talking about her follow-up to that book, titled “Quit: The Power of Knowing When to Walk Away,” which was just released this week.
Quitting is not a popular topic in startup circles and history is marked by success stories of founders who refused to quit, even when just about every signal was telling them to do so.
But Annie offers a counterintuitive approach. She dives into all the misconceptions about quitting, and makes the case that it can actually be a superpower, rather than a weakness. Annie explores the psychology behind why it’s so hard to walk away, and tactically what folks can do to get a clearer picture of the decisions ahead of them, rather than being clouded by biases. She also offers specific advice for advice-givers who are trying to nudge someone to change course, with tested tips for getting your message across gently, yet firmly.
And after the episode be sure to check out “Quit: The Power of Knowing When to Walk Away.”
You can follow Annie on Twitter at @AnnieDuke.
You can email us questions directly at review@firstround.com or follow us on Twitter @ twitter.com/firstround and twitter.com/brettberson