Life & fun · alternatives · 2026

24 alternatives to "The Happy Failure" By Herman Melville

The Happy Story of a Failed 19th Century Startup Founder

Below are 24 products that do a similar job, ranked by how close each is in meaning and then by launch-day votes. "The Happy Failure" By Herman Melville launched in 2016; newer entries below may have overtaken it.

1
Finding Success in Failure▲58
A startup tell-all from a 10-year serial entrepreneur
2015 · amazon.com · its alternatives →
2
Founders at Work▲208
Stories of successful founders
2015 · foundersatwork.com · its alternatives →
3
Failing My Way to Success▲71
Life lessons of an entrepreneur
2016 · amazon.com · its alternatives →
4
The Successful Mistake▲65
A book featuring 163 inspiring Entrepreneurs
2016 · publishizer.com · its alternatives →
5
Lighthouse London - 19: How To Raise, Fail and Find Your True Calling: Mental Health in Startups▲57
James Routledge's startup journey
2016 · wearelighthouse.com · its alternatives →
6
Start-up Nation▲84
The story of Israel's economic miracle
2016 · amazon.com · its alternatives →
7
Hustle Con Stories 👻▲226
Stories of successful founders who can't code
2015 · its alternatives →
8
Growing a Million Dollar Company▲123
30+ lessons on startup success & failure
2015 · baremetrics.com · its alternatives →
9
The Founder's Dilemmas▲75
Anticipating & Avoiding the Pitfalls That Can Sink a Startup
2015 · amazon.com · its alternatives →
10
FoundersGyan▲50
Inspiring Entrepreneurs
2015 · foundersgyan.com · its alternatives →
11
Founders at Work▲51
Stories of Startups' Early Days
2015 · amazon.com · its alternatives →
12
Starting Something: An Entrepreneur's Tale of Corporate Culture ▲60
I made a few hundred million. I lost a few hundred million.
2016 · amazon.com · its alternatives →
13
Voluntary Admission▲67
Entrepreneur and startup founder talking about depression
2016 · amazon.com · its alternatives →
14
Hatching Twitter: A True Story of Money, Power, Friendship▲127
The startup journey is never smooth or easy
2015 · amazon.com · its alternatives →
15
Story in a Bottle - Albert Wenger▲65
How to fail as an entrepreneur and succeed in VC
2016 · storyinabottle.charmingrobot.com · its alternatives →
16
Innovator's Dilemma▲202
The seminal business book
2015 · amazon.com · its alternatives →
17
The Utopia Experiment by Dylan Evans▲73
Guy tries to create utopia, fails miserably.
2015 · amazon.com · its alternatives →
18
Mad Genius▲65
A manifesto for entrepreneurs
2016 · amazon.com · its alternatives →
19
The Da Vinci Curse▲74
Life Design for People With Too Many Interests and Talents
2016 · amazon.com · its alternatives →
20
Revisionist History by Malcolm Gladwell▲64
Reinterpreting something overlooked from the past
2016 · podcasts.apple.com · its alternatives →
21
3 Real Reasons Why Most Startups Fail▲90
10x growthhacker eBook (first 26 pages only)
2015 · 10xgrowthhacker.com · its alternatives →
22
Waking Up #44 - Being Good and Doing Good: A Conversation with William MacAskill▲55
Effective altruism, moral illusions, and existential risk
2016 · soundcloud.com · its alternatives →
23
Inspiring Entrepreneurs From Start to Finish▲59
The persistent entrepreneur
2016 · media.zencast.fm · its alternatives →
24
Louder Than Words - David Heinemeier Hansson On Rejecting Money & Living Happily Ever After▲60
The Cofounder of Basecamp Dishes on Silicon Valley Culture
2015 · soundcloud.com · its alternatives →

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Ranked by how close each launch is in meaning, then by votes. Prices were read from each product’s own site when checked and can change. Refine with your own description →