Failure as a Rite of Passage to Entrepreneurship

When I was running with Brad Feld the other day he told me that he sees 25 year old entrepreneurs all the time that have never failed before.  This shocked me.

How can you consider yourself, or call someone else, an entrepreneur, having never failed before?

This got me thinking.  Then it got me thinking about Star Wars.  Then I changed my personal definition of what an entrepreneur is.

Remember when Luke Skywalker is training to become a Jedi with Yoda in The Empire Strikes Back?  When Luke decides to leave to go save his friends in Cloud City, Yoda tells him that if he leaves now he will lose all that he has worked for in his training.  Luke responds with something like, "but I'm a Jedi".  Yoda then says, "No, you must first face Vader".

Maybe this isn't the best example, but in order for entrepreneurs to become entrepreneurs, they must FIRST fail!  Failure is a rite of passage.  Just as Luke must confront Vader to become a Jedi.

So, to formally amend my personal definition of what/who an entrepreneur is: they must first FAIL.