It’s common to hear people in business discuss their success stories, but how often do you hear them open up about their moments of failure and when they hit rock bottom?
A new event is coming to Malta with the precise intention of normalising failure, where people from various businesses will take to the stage to open up about their worst moments of failure and what lessons they learned as a result.
From Australia and the UK to Italy and Suriname, F****Up Nights has been held across over 70 countries and it is coming to Malta in April, organised by Simon Theuma, who runs the Malta Startup Space platform.
“These will be nights to celebrate failure,” Mr Theuma told WhosWho.mt.
“Normal business narratives revolve around success and praise for the people at the top, but what often gets glossed over are those people who got close but didn’t make or how much the people at the top had to get through to end up where they are.”
“This will be an event for people to take to the stage and deliver a presentation about their moments of failure and what they learned as a result.”
The first event will be held in mid-April, with the exact date and venue yet to be confirmed, and will focus on start-ups.
There will then be separate F***Up events for 12 sectors, such as gaming, igaming crypto, real estate and finance, with one for each every quarter, for a total of 48 events a year. Each event will include a few presentations, which will be followed by a Q&A session and networking opportunities.
“I want this to be a catalyst to start a conversation about failure,” Mr Theuma said. “It’s still very much a stigma in Malta, possibly because the island is so small and so competitive that every failure is seen as a weakness."
"You don’t often hear about people failing, stories of failure tend to get swept under the rug, and if you fail in your first business, there’s a fear you could be blacklisted.”
He said the event is already generating interest, with people sending him their stories of failure. He will then curate them, select the most compelling ones and iron out the details with the speakers to ensure the best possible delivery.
