Floccinaucinihilipilification is the act or habit of estimating or describing something as worthless, or making something to be worthless by deprecation.

Some words we might use to describe the longest non-technical word in the English language:

• Stagnant
• Worthless
• Defunct

Translation: Deadpool.

What contributes to a project/startup dying? Is there a single catastrophic moment when the founders realize that it’s going nowhere, some kind of breaking point? I wonder what the guys labeled as ‘Defunct’ in the list of companies by YCombinator would say. Something like:

• Not enough market visibility
• Not enough market interest
• Not enough money
• Not enough need
• ” founder drive or ambition

You notice the trend here don’t you? Generally when it comes to failed startups, I hear those involved cite all sorts of different answers, all preceded by the same thing… Not enough.

Unfortunately, it generally tends to be true, not a simple matter of the founders’ incompetence. Oft-times you’ll hear critics examine a failure and proudlyloudly shriek the cause like they had insider information. Trouble with the internet; everyone is an expert.

One can have an Einstein equivalent idea and execute it perfectly, still to have it fail and come crashing down upon you (and your wallet… and your bank account. Credit Card. Marriage. Et cetera.).

You can’t force a user to enjoy your business application. They see a need for it, or they don’t. Likewise with Venture Capital. If a VC isn’t interested, that’s the cause of your lack of money, not the lack of VCs themselves.

That’s not a reason to give up so easily.

Let me say again:

That’s not a reason to give up so easily.

We all know the story. When the first dot com bubble exploded upon the markets, hundreds of thousands of companies were born. The internet was new and shiny and we all wanted a piece. But as with all new technologies, we first applied ourselves to solving existing problems. Those succeeded. Then some Venture Capitalists in their infinite wisdom, put unrealistic expectations on new applications that didn’t exactly make sense, solve any problems, were just… there. Those crashed. And burned. Millions were lost, lives were ruined. All around bad mojo.

There are lessons we can learn however. Some companies that went belly up a decade ago were reborn by others, adapted for ten years of change, and a success.

An idea can die, but it can also be reborn. Put a new spin on it. Re-evaluate reviews, criticisms and your gut feeling. Change direction. Change markets. Reinvent your idea from the ground up.

A chat application that went belly up could be the next Google Talk. Or an IM client in a Facebook app. Or used to provide a log for internal corporate discussions.