The study of building boldly
and its aftermath.
The intellectual engine of the Failsafe ecosystem — an independent, non-partisan think tank based in Washington, DC.
Thesis
Failure is information. When a society treats the collapse of a venture as shame rather than data, it loses the very knowledge that makes the next attempt safer. The Institute exists to convert that lost knowledge into evidence — so that recovery becomes something a society designs for, not something it leaves to luck.
“A society that cannot study its failures is condemned to keep paying for them. We build the evidence base that makes recovery a policy, not a hope.”
The arc we study
We follow the full life of a creative undertaking — not only the founding, and not only the collapse.
Phase 01
Formation
The decision to build, and the risk it quietly assumes.
Phase 02
Strain
The point pressure begins to compound — capital, health, relationships.
Phase 03
Collapse
The ending itself: what is lost, and how the cost is distributed.
Phase 04
Recovery
What determines whether a person — and their knowledge — continues.
Mission
The Failsafe Institute is an independent think tank dedicated to advancing the science, economics, and public understanding of entrepreneurship, innovation, and founder wellbeing. Through original research, working papers, fellowships, convenings, and policy analysis, the Institute develops the ideas and evidence that shape how society supports builders — before, during, and after failure.
How we work
Research integrity
The standards that make our findings citable — and keep them independent.
01
Independent authorship
Researchers and fellows publish under their own names. No funder, partner, or ecosystem entity reviews findings before release.
02
Anonymized by design
Human-subjects work is de-identified and reviewed for ethical use. We study patterns, never individuals — systemic, never spectacle.
03
Open methods & data
Methodologies and anonymized datasets are released for independent replication. Every report is published openly, without a paywall.
04
Non-partisan review
Findings are checked by outside experts before publication and written to be citable by legislators, agencies, courts, and the press alike.
What we study
Research agenda
Five programs of inquiry, each producing citable evidence for the field.
- 01
The economics of recovery
Longitudinal study
What actually happens to founders and their companies after collapse — earnings, health, household stability, and the odds of a second attempt. Anonymized, systemic, never spectacle.
- 02
Wind-downs & insolvency
Working papers
How dissolution and bankruptcy distribute cost across founders, workers, and creditors — and what a humane, efficient ending would look like in law and in practice.
- 03
Health & the founder
Clinical review
The measurable toll of building and losing: continuity of care, mental health, and the interventions that meaningfully reduce harm.
- 04
Innovation & resilience
Data & modeling
How the treatment of failure shapes what a society builds — risk-taking, formation rates, and the durability of the ventures that survive.
- 05
Policy analysis
Non-partisan briefs
Rigorous, citable evaluation of the systems around endings, written for legislators, agencies, courts, and the public alike.
The report of record
Flagship report · Annual
Vol. I · Forthcoming
The State of Founders
An annual, data-driven account of how builders fare across the full arc of a venture — formation, strain, collapse, and recovery. A shared factual baseline for policymakers, researchers, and the public, published openly and without paywall.
Full-arc
The first index to track founders through recovery, not just to failure.
Open
Methods and anonymized data released for independent replication.
Annual
A durable time series, so the field can see change as it happens.
Recent & forthcoming
Publications
- Jun 2026Working paper
The second attempt: what predicts whether founders build again.
A longitudinal look at re-entry after a company fails.
- May 2026Data brief
Health-care discontinuity in venture wind-downs: a first accounting.
How often losing a company means losing coverage — and when.
- Apr 2026Essay
Failure is information: why economies that punish it learn less.
The intellectual case for treating endings as recoverable.
- Mar 2026Working paper
The personal balance sheet of a company's collapse.
Measuring the private cost that public statistics miss.
Fellowships
Scholars in residence
Residencies for economists, legal scholars, clinicians, and operators examining resilience in innovation and the human cost of building. Independent work, published under the fellow’s own name.
Applications open annually
Convenings
Salons & counsel
Closed convenings that bring the evidence to the people who shape how builders start, operate, and recover — with non-partisan briefings for legislators, agencies, and courts.
By invitation
Who is behind it
Founding team & advisors
A young institute, built in the open. Appointments are announced as they are confirmed.
RJ
Founder
Founder of Failsafe. Building the institutions that treat the aftermath of failure as a field of study, not a private shame.
Research Director
Appointment forthcoming
An economist or social scientist to lead the Institute's longitudinal research program and the annual State of Founders.
Advisory Board
Convening
Economists, legal scholars, clinicians, and operators who guide the research agenda and safeguard its independence.
For journalists
Press & media
We offer reporters access to our data, interviews with researchers, and advance, embargoed copies of major reports. For background, fact-checks, or a spokesperson, reach the press office directly.
Press office
press@failsafe.orgFailsafe works as a system in harmony. The Foundation helps builders stabilize, the Institute advances the knowledge, the Alliance changes the system, and the Fund backs the comeback.