Coburn Ventures Podcast #250: Failure Rates & Mistakes in the Investment Industry Part 2 of 2: Moving Toward Alignment
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Dec 11, 2025 Delve into the fascinating world of investment as experts dissect failure rates versus real mistakes. Discover how unaligned expectations can hinder progress and the importance of effective communication. Learn about the innovative '60 is the New 90' mindset to embrace high failure rates. Hear about a unique practice of sharing mistakes for collective learning and the need to navigate power dynamics in feedback. Finally, gain insights on conducting mistake autopsies to differentiate between external failures and improvable errors.
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60% Success Is Normal In Investing
- The investment industry normalizes a much higher failure rate than other professions. 60% success can be excellent while 40% failure is expected and not necessarily a mistake.
Rory McIlroy Putts Example
- Brynn and Pip use Rory McIlroy's putts to show difference between expected misses and mistakes. Short putts have low expected failure; long putts have high expected failure but neither implies a process error.
Misalignment Breaks Team Feedback
- Misalignment with industry failure rates creates defensive behavior and breaks team communication. Distancing from outcomes shuts down feedback loops and stifles learning.