Stop being afraid of failure and start embracing it.

FailCon is a one-day conference for technology entrepreneurs, investors, developers, and designers to study their own and others' failures and prepare for success.

We all have founded, worked for or invested in startups that have failed. We're smart, we keep up with the latest in technology trends, but sometimes things just don't go as planned. How can you predict what will work and what won't? Well, you can't.

But that doesn't mean you should stop trying. It just means you should start exchanging stories of what didn't work and how you pivoted, why you couldn't raise money, what the wrong hires were like, and when you decided it was time to let go. Entrepreneurs need to hear that from each other: it's okay to fail; it doesn't mean you're worthless. You're just like the rest of us, learning from making mistakes and building something bigger next time.

FailCon was started in San Francisco in 2009 as a response to events repeatedly highlighting only success, while providing so guidance or safe spaces for failure. Our first event launched with over 400 attendees, and we've continued to grow ever since. We hope you'll join us and add your unique story and experience to our own.

Failure is still a taboo topic all over the world, but we're working to change that one city at a time. If you're interested in hosting a FailCon in your city, email Cass.

Who Are The Producers?

Cass Phillipps, Global Producer

Cass has been a startup event producer for over seven years, producing and managing conferences like FailCon, SF MusicTech Summit, Inside Social Apps, Unleashed Conference, and many more. Recently, she began exploring what storytelling is on mobile at Episode Interactive! You can follow her on twitter @webwallflower

Heather McGough, San Francisco Advisor

Heather McGough is also the founder of Urbanity Events. Learn more about Heather and the San Francisco event at http://sf.thefailcon.com. You can also get in touch with Heather on twitter @urbanityevents

Benson Lau, Hong Kong Producer

Benson Lau is an ex-engineer, investor and entrepreneur having built global car communities reaching over 10 million people a week and now co-founder of an IT services company called Zencode, focusing on building mobile, data analytics and AI solutions for startups and Enterprise clients.

– Associate Producer

Sonya Madden, Hong Kong Associate Producer

Sonya Madden is an ex-Banker, Entrepreneur & Strategic-Advisor, who’s built or advised businesses across Asia, UK, and US. Her work’s been featured in the Wall Street Journal, FT, Vogue, and Business School text books.

Rafael Chanin, Brazil Producer

Rafael is a Professor at PUCRS and a Director at Nós Coworking. Learn more about Rafael and the Brazilian FailCon at http://brazil.thefailcon.com

Flavio Steffens de Castro, Brazil Producer

Flavio is also the founder of Woompa Learn more about Flavio and the Brazilian FailCon at http://brazil.thefailcon.com

Bat-chen Grinberg, Israel Producer

Bat-chen is the founder of Israel startup event production company MC Forum. Learn more about Bat-chen and the Israel FailCon at http://telaviv.thefailcon.com

Pedro Olivares, Spain Producer

Pedro is also the founder of Salto con Red. Learn more about Pedro and the Spanish FailCon at http://spain.thefailcon.com

Roxanne Varza, France Producer

Roxanne is also the Startup Lead at Microsoft France. Learn more about Roxanne and the French FailCon at http://france.thefailcon.com

Rentsendash Munkhzul, Mongolia Producer

Innovation strategist in National Information Technology Park of Mongolia. Learn more about Munkhzul and the Mongolian FailCon at http://mongolia.thefailcon.com

Laurent Carbonnaux, Toulouse Producer

Laurent is a member of startup innovation firm Ekito. Learn more about Laurent and the Toulouse FailCon at http://toulouse.thefailcon.com

Benjamin Böhle-Roitelet, Toulouse Producer

Benjamin is the founder of startup innovation firm Ekito and Blue Builder. Learn more about Benjamin and the Toulouse FailCon at http://toulouse.thefailcon.com

Guillaume Cerquant, Toulouse Producer

Guillaume is the member of startup innovation firm Ekito. Learn more about Guillaume and the Toulouse FailCon at http://toulouse.thefailcon.com

Eric Pierrel, Grenoble Producer

Eric is the CEO of Itris Automation, a PLC development company. Learn more about Eric and the Grenoble FailCon at http://grenoble.thefailcon.com

Amber Sanders, Atlanta Executive Producer

Amber is an event producer in Atlanta, working mostly for 100 Urban Entrepreneurs. Learn more about Amber and the Atlanta FailCon at http://atlanta.thefailcon.com

Blake Merriam, India Producer

Blake has been living in Mumbai for most of the last six years, originally arriving to work on an e-commerce project for a US firm. Learn more about Blake and the Indian FailCon at http://india.thefailcon.com