The Pre-mortem Technique: Why Smart Founders Plan for Failure

A post-mortem analyzes what went wrong. A pre-mortem imagines what could go wrong—before it happens. Here's how to use this powerful technique.

What is a Pre-mortem?

Imagine it's one year from now. Your startup has failed completely. Now work backward: what went wrong?

This mental exercise, pioneered by psychologist Gary Klein, helps surface risks your optimistic founder brain wants to ignore.

Why It Works

Our brains are wired for optimism when we're excited about an idea. Pre-mortems hack this by giving you "permission" to think negatively—it's not pessimism, it's planning.

Research shows teams that conduct pre-mortems identify 30% more potential problems than those who don't.

How to Run a Pre-mortem

Step 1: Set the Scene

Gather your team (or do this solo). State: "It's 12 months from now. Our startup has failed. Let's figure out why."

Step 2: Silent Brainstorm

Everyone writes down reasons for the failure. No discussion yet. Aim for 5-10 reasons each.

Step 3: Share and Cluster

Go around the room, sharing one reason at a time. Group similar failures together.

Step 4: Prioritize

Vote on which failures are most likely AND most devastating.

Step 5: Prevent

For the top 3-5 risks, create specific mitigation plans.

Common Pre-mortem Findings

• "We ran out of money before finding product-market fit"
• "Our co-founder relationship fell apart"
• "A competitor with more resources entered our market"
• "We couldn't hire the technical talent we needed"
• "Regulations changed and made our product illegal"

Try It Now

Devil's Advocate's Pre-mortem Analysis generates 5 failure scenarios specific to your idea and helps you build prevention strategies for each one.