A problem is that people who experience failure in an area of life and totally drop out of it.. aren't hanging around the same community to tell their stories.
Most of the people I knew in the late 90s "new media" sphere are no longer involved in Web development or Internet media at all.. and certainly wouldn't be hanging around forums for those kinds of people. Their stories are stuck with them in their new roles as bank managers, fashion journalists, and mechanics (the founders of Boo.com, for example, are now a fashion designer and an investment advisor).
I doubt the strongest "failed and never got back on the saddle" stories would come from asking on HN. People who died in the entrepreneurial space are most likely not here.
Update: An idea, perhaps, would be to find people from famous Internet companies or "up and coming" lists and track down where they ended up.
During WWII, the RAF had to decide where on their planes to put the armour plating. They could not plate everywhere due to weight considerations. They were going to put it on places where returning aircraft were damaged, but Patrick Blackett (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patrick_Blackett,_Baron_Blacket...) pointed out that this was a biased sample. His recommendation was to put the plating were returning aircraft were not damaged, as this is probably where the aircraft which did not return were hit.
Most of the people I knew in the late 90s "new media" sphere are no longer involved in Web development or Internet media at all.. and certainly wouldn't be hanging around forums for those kinds of people. Their stories are stuck with them in their new roles as bank managers, fashion journalists, and mechanics (the founders of Boo.com, for example, are now a fashion designer and an investment advisor).
I doubt the strongest "failed and never got back on the saddle" stories would come from asking on HN. People who died in the entrepreneurial space are most likely not here.
Update: An idea, perhaps, would be to find people from famous Internet companies or "up and coming" lists and track down where they ended up.