I've founded and closed multiple companies over 14 years. Each time, hard-won lessons just disappeared into nothing.
Medicine advanced when doctors started doing systematic autopsies. Aviation safety improved after black boxes became mandatory. But for organizations? 90% of startups fail, and we collect almost no structured data about why.
SOIL collects "autopsy" data from founders of dead companies - functional state at peak, financial trajectory, timeline of events, environmental factors, founder context. Framework-agnostic: we gather data first, then analyze through multiple lenses to see which theories actually predict failure.
The goal: build enough cases to identify patterns, early warning signals, eventually predictive models. Each company gets a digital memorial (cenotaph) - you can browse existing ones without signing up.
Looking for the first 100 founders willing to document their dead companies. Feedback on the approach welcome.
I've founded and closed multiple companies over 14 years. Each time, hard-won lessons just disappeared into nothing. Medicine advanced when doctors started doing systematic autopsies. Aviation safety improved after black boxes became mandatory. But for organizations? 90% of startups fail, and we collect almost no structured data about why. SOIL collects "autopsy" data from founders of dead companies - functional state at peak, financial trajectory, timeline of events, environmental factors, founder context. Framework-agnostic: we gather data first, then analyze through multiple lenses to see which theories actually predict failure. The goal: build enough cases to identify patterns, early warning signals, eventually predictive models. Each company gets a digital memorial (cenotaph) - you can browse existing ones without signing up. Looking for the first 100 founders willing to document their dead companies. Feedback on the approach welcome.