Did SpaceX fail or succeed? How dare we ask.

SpaceX rockets exploding is a perfect example of testing. But testing also occurs in more common entrepreneurial ventures.

Last week, SpaceX launched Starship, the largest and most powerful rocket ever. After many failed attempts in the past, this rocket actually got off the ground and launched! It reached 24.2 miles into the air. People cheered.

Four minutes into SpaceX's new Starship test flight, it tumbled and exploded.

For those of us who have becoming accustomed to seeing launches of space craft, an explosion means failure.

Right?

But SpaceX CEO Elon Musk and his team were enthused by what they experienced last week.

This was the farthest they have ever taken Starship. Last week, clearing the launchpad for the first time was a major milestone.

Prior to the launch, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk sought to temper expectations, saying, “Success is not what should be expected. … That would be insane.”

After the launch and the subsequent explosion, SpaceX tweeted the following. “With a test like this, success comes from what we learn, and today’s test will help us improve Starship’s reliability as SpaceX seeks to make life multi-planetary.”

A lesson for every entrepreneur everywhere: this was just a test.

Starship passed the test it wanted to complete last Thursday. Lots of data is being collected so it can get even further next time.

Innovation: it’s all a journey.

What SpaceX is attempting to do is the Wright Brothers on another level. They tested for years before they got a plane off the ground for a mere 12 seconds on an obscure beach in North Carolina.

We all look back and see that as a major milestone — but that plane didn’t take anyone to any place of significance. Hard to do that in 12 seconds (especially in 1903).

Entrepreneurs experiment as a form of trial and error. Those SpaceX rockets exploding is a perfect example of testing. But testing also occurs in more common entrepreneurial ventures.

Restaurateurs might test items on their menu to see what customers like. Sometimes it works and it’s added to the menu and becomes a hot seller. Sometimes it doesn’t and you move on and try something else.

All ventures are trial and error. Sometimes you know the answer by the validation of people buying (or not buying) products or services. But other times, you need to actively solicit feedback. That is why almost every large company today uses surveys to ask you how your experience was — after a flight, a hotel stay, or a meal at a restaurant. Even Amazon asks you how your delivery was.

This feedback is a form of testing.

Customers are the people we serve in our entrepreneurial ventures. We might have ideas of what they want, but when we actively listen, we learn what their experiences have been like and what ideas the might have for us. If we listen well, the customer might even give us a great business idea we didn’t think about.

It’s all built around the principle of trial and error.

This is also why it’s important for new ventures to start small. You don’t want to jump into the deep end to learn you can’t swim. You want to wade in slowly and test the waters. With this slow testing, you can learn what people want or don’t want. You can learn how to improve and get better.

This is also all built around the idea of humility. Let’s go back to that quote by Elon Musk at the top. Before the launch he was asked to define success.

“Success is not what should be expected,” said Elon. “That would be insane.”

If we know in advance what would be expected, we’d go all in. But true entrepreneurs know that learning is part of the process. What SpaceX learned last week through all the data they are collecting is going to help them get even further next time. After all, if we knew how to get to Mars, we’d already be there.

Apply this thought process to your work today and whatever it is you are working on building in the future.

If you’d like more insights like this, learn directly from the people I learn from every day. We have more than 50 Featured Innovators in the Fearless Journeys community who are offering incredible life lessons, actionable insights like these, and connections to people in many different professions. There’s nothing like having a network of highly innovative entrepreneurs to lean and and to challenge you to think with an entrepreneurial mindset. Let us stand beside you and help you grow.

Join our community at: fearlessjourneys.org. Drop me a line with any questions by replying to this email or commenting below. And don’t forget about the lesson of trial and error. It’s never failure. It’s a learning opportunity. Just ask Elon Musk.