Norwest venture capitalist Sean Jacobsohn has created a museum of failure, dedicated to collecting items from failed companies, products, and sports teams. Eschewing the standard roles, Jacobsohn takes on the unconventional hobby of collecting artifacts of failure in his free time, in addition to his regular day job as a successful venture capitalist. He began this unique venture a year ago and has since amassed over 500 objects from failed businesses that now sit in glass display cases in his office. The collection includes rare memorabilia from failed companies as well as products that flopped in the market, such as the ill-fated Harley Davidson cologne and an unopened, branded bottle of champagne from early grocery-delivery startup Webvan that filed for bankruptcy shortly after its IPO. Jacobsohn also features many items related to major tech news stories, such as the recent availability of the FTX-sponsored bobblehead of Jordan Poole from the Golden State Warriors, or the WeWork water bottle and authentic WeWork summer camp koozie and mug. He decided to share his collection on a dedicated website called the Failure Museum and goes the extra mile to explain why each product or business failed, offering valuable insights for current and potential business owners. This collection has led to an increased pipeline of potential investors and supporters, as well as interactions with former employees of the companies he collects from. Jacobsohn also aims to share his insights by lecturing at Harvard Business School on the topic “Avoiding Startup Failure”. With his continued passion for collecting failure artifacts, it remains to be seen what the next addition to the museum might be. Aspiring business owners would be wise to hold onto any failure-related artifacts for a potential future connection with Jacobsohn.
I have over 10 years of experience in the cryptocurrency industry and I have been on the list of the top authors on LinkedIn for the past 5 years.