Learning from Failures: The Power of Transparency in Business
Sam Parr
Hampton has a Slack channel called sh*t i'm f*cked where people tell stories when they nearly failed.
The channel is our most popular channel.
Its honestly pretty awesome seeing super successful people talk about near-business-death experiences.
Also fun to celebrate these f*ck ups and laugh at it all.
A few highlights (anonymized):
1. $140k payroll due in 6 days. $550k in receivables. $7k in the bank.
2. Judge’s decision coming at 3pm. Outcome could erase 3 years of work.
3. Got cut halfway through vesting, lost millions. Divorce followed. Threw savings into Bitcoin at $800. That bet saved me.
4. A week before launch, every customer froze. Same week, the place we were staying literally burned down. Still raised at a $50M+ valuation.
5. Finance head quit on Monday. Controller quit Tuesday. By Friday, sales VP + 5 reps gone. Found $700k in fake receivables, $350k unpaid bills, and $250k in “free product” promised to customers.
6. $120M exit offer in writing. Buyer cut it in half. Walked. A year later, sold for less than $15M. At the same time: parent passed away, other parent hospitalized, had to run their debt-heavy business overnight.
7. All funds at the wrong bank. Friday collapse. Payroll due Monday.
8. $450k of personal-guarantee debt, buggy product, entire team gone. Bankruptcy docs ready to sign. Didn’t file. Paid it all back.
9. Biggest client worth $280k/month vanished. Another $250k project canceled over the holidays. Burned millions trying to hang on.
10. House flip disaster: 5 months late, $100k over budget, $70k in maxed credit cards, pregnant wife, $20 in the bank, $20k/month burn. First rainstorm: roof leaked everywhere. Took years to climb out.
Turns out the most-loved channel at Hampton isn’t about wins. It’s about near-deaths. Sam Parr shared that their Slack channel called “sht I’m fcked” (where founders share their worst almost-fail moments) is the company’s most active channel.
Why it works
- Vulnerability = trust. People connect more with struggle than perfection.
- Relatability builds community. Everyone’s had a “we’re doomed” story.
- Authenticity cuts through polished founder-speak.
- Shared pain turns into shared pride and loyalty.
Real-world proof
- Alex Hormozi built a massive following by publicly sharing business losses and failures.
- Buffer grew user trust after sharing revenue and payroll publicly.
- Patagonia’s “Don’t Buy This Jacket” ad worked because it came from honesty, not hype.
- Morning Brew newsletters often include behind-the-scenes flops, making success feel human.