Inversion: Avoid Failure on Purpose
“Instead of asking how to succeed, ask how to avoid failing.”
The Problem
When you're building solo, it's easy to fixate on winning:
- “How do I go viral?”
- “How do I grow faster?”
- “How do I build a perfect product?”
But chasing upside can blind you to the real risk:
Avoidable failure.
What Is Inversion?
Inversion flips the problem.
Instead of asking, “How do I succeed?”, you ask:
“What would definitely make this fail?”
Then you reverse it.
It’s a mental model that forces you to spot weak points before they become real problems — and avoid them early.
Why It Matters for Solo Founders
You don’t have a safety net.
You don’t have QA teams or layers of advisors.
So avoiding obvious failure is often more valuable than chasing ideal success.
Inversion helps you:
- Pressure-test your plans
- Anticipate what could go wrong
- Build resilience into your execution
It’s not pessimism.
It’s proactive problem-solving.
Example: Launch Planning
You’re preparing to launch a paid product.
Default thinking:
“How do I make this successful?”
Inversion:
“What would guarantee this flops?”
Your answers:
- No one knows it exists
- The messaging is unclear
- I never validated the offer
- I delay too long
Now, flip those into safeguards:
- Email the list early
- Test the headline with your audience
- Pre-sell with a simple pitch
- Ship before it’s perfect
That’s inversion at work — and it just saved your launch.
Ask Yourself
- What are the top 3 ways this could fail?
- What blind spots am I avoiding?
- What would I do differently if my goal was to prevent disaster?
Bonus Prompt
Use this when reviewing any decision:
“If I wanted this to completely fail, what would I do?”
Write it out.
Then don’t do those things.
Final Thought
Success isn’t always about what you do. Sometimes, it’s about what you don’t do.
Invert the question.
Avoid failure on purpose.
Then move forward with confidence.