--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: You want failures to be small and…" description: "\"You want failures to be small and informational. Silicon Valley does very well. It knows how to use failure as a tool for improvement.\" — Nassim Nichol..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f9d/nassim-nicholas-taleb-352_doe_you-want-failures-to-be-small-and-inform_295233.png" --- # You want failures to be small and informational. Silicon… ![“You want failures to be small and informational. Silicon Valley does very well. It knows how to use failure as a tool for improvement.” quote by Nassim Nicholas Taleb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f9d/nassim-nicholas-taleb-352_doe_you-want-failures-to-be-small-and-inform_295233.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f9d/nassim-nicholas-taleb-352_doe_you-want-failures-to-be-small-and-inform_295233.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f9d/nassim-nicholas-taleb-352_doe_you-want-failures-to-be-small-and-inform_295233.png) > “You want failures to be small and informational. Silicon Valley does very well. It knows how to use failure as a tool for improvement.” [Nassim Nicholas Taleb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nassim-nicholas-taleb/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Small, informative failures let systems learn and become stronger, unlike large, catastrophic setbacks. **In simple terms:** Learn from minor mistakes to improve. Key Takeaway Embrace small failures as learning tools. Themes risk management learning resilience Mood reflective pragmatic Type advice philosophical When to use this quote - startup development - product testing - personal growth - team projects Key Concepts antifragility feedback loops Questions to Reflect On - How can you design experiments to fail safely? - What metrics reveal useful failure data? A Different Perspective Large failures can be demoralizing and costly. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Failure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/failure/) [Failures](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/failures/) [Improvement](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/improvement/) [Silicon valley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/silicon-valley/) [Tools](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tools/) ## Related quotes > [I've probably failed more often than anybody else in Silicon Valley. Those don't matter. I don't remember the failures. 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My teenage boys got a kick out of it: 'Dad,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathan-myhrvold/some-article-called-me-the-most-feared-man-in-silicon-valley-good/) [Nathan Myhrvold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathan-myhrvold/) ## More by Nassim Nicholas Taleb > [To become a philosopher, start by walking very slowly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nassim-nicholas-taleb/to-become-a-philosopher-start-by-walking-very-slowly/) [Nassim Nicholas Taleb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nassim-nicholas-taleb/) > [Wittgenstein's ruler: Unless you have confidence in the ruler's reliability, if you use a ruler to measure a table you may also be using…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nassim-nicholas-taleb/wittgenstein-s-ruler-unless-you-have-confidence-in-the-ruler-s/) [Nassim Nicholas Taleb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nassim-nicholas-taleb/) > [In politics we face the choice between warmongering, nation-state loving, big-business agents on one hand; and risk-blind, top-down, epistemic arrogant big servants of large…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nassim-nicholas-taleb/in-politics-we-face-the-choice-between-warmongering-nation-state/) [Nassim Nicholas Taleb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nassim-nicholas-taleb/) > [My nightmare scenario is that the government saves Citibank once again, as well as the other banks, and business resumes as usual. 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