Why We Failed: The American Exit from Afghanistan
In this postmortem from 2021, @hncurious candidly breaks down the dissolution of their startup, examining the fatal assumptions, misallocated resources, and market dynamics that led to its shutdown.
Core Principles for Independent Builders:
Early signals were often rationalized away instead of prompting an immediate pivot in distribution or pricing.
The psychological toll of running out of capital compounds operational friction in a solo or small team setup.
Key Antidote: Validate paying willingness before committing months to building sophisticated product features.
Community Debate Themes:
Community discussions on HN centered on identifying product-market fit early, avoiding vanity metrics, and the emotional recovery process after shutting down.
CATEGORY Postmortems & Failures →
HISTORICAL ERA Pandemic Bubble (2020–2022)
COMMUNITY SCORE ★ 12 points
TOTAL DISCUSSIONS 3 comments
isn't it the same story repeating over and over, such as previous withdrawals from Afghanistan, not just by the US but Soviet Union as well, and going back all the way to the Anglo-Afghan Wars.
I mean, the way it was (mis-)managed tactically was a colossal failure by Biden administration but was there really another strategic solution, except for not invading Afghanistan in the first place.
There is no such thing as limited warfare. Either you fight to win or you loose. WWII ended because the enemies will to fight ended. Their choice was simple. End it or face annihilation. The Afghan president said he fled to avoid bloodshed. It can only be assumed he meant his own. I am sure his bank account is well funded with US Afghan Aid money.
https://dukespace.lib.duke.edu/dspace/bitstream/handle/10161/3784/Koprowski_duke_0066N_10877.pdf