What happens when you build a brilliant solution that solves problems years ahead of it's time, but you have no platform? It fails. You can't get it to the people who could use it. Chris Noble talks about how lessons from how tech startups fail shape what we should be doing in international development and social good today. He calls it the "Wheel of Failure."
The biggest piece of advice he'd give his younger self? "Don't flinch. Spend more time talking to the people. In every moment of discomfort or fear... I wanna fight or flee. And I do both in pretty much equal, measure. But because we're humans, there's a third alternative to fight and flee, which is listen. …. Don't force it. Take a minute. Talk to the people, listen to them a little bit. And then see if you can find your way forward."
He also talks about relationships over transactions, how trust is the best thing we can build, and why you should have Voltaire and Winnie the Pooh as philosophers you listen to.
26 Aug 2026
Ok, fine. But we won't buy that.
"Ok, fine. But we won't buy that." That's what farmers kept saying when presented with the tractors the best experts in the world said they needed. Jehiel Oliver from Hello Tractor talks about how learn to listen to the market first, and the experts later. That's especially true when you're dealing with farmers, who know that no matter how ambitious a startup founder you are, you still can't break the laws of physics. The only signal that matters is whether the actual user will adopt the solution in their environment. A product can be technically elegant and still be irrelevant. If you optimize for what prestigious outsiders recommend, you can burn years building something the market quietly refuses to buy.
He also gives real lessons on what it takes to lead: start from humility. Don't force yourself to move faster than a market will scale because you think you can solve all the world's problems. Make space for your teams to admit failure by admitting failure yourself. Spend at least two days a week making sure your teams are on track, and find ways to incentivize success and creative solutions.
12 Aug 2026
Don't scale the excitement; evaluate what's working.
Attaullah Abbasi from J-PAL discusses evaluating AI impact over excitement to avoid irreversible losses, offering practical tools for informed investment decisions in this interview.
Who has been a guest on CARE Failing Forward
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Attaullah Abbasi
Carol Miloky
Fatou Ndiaye
Nelima Otipa
Nithya Ramanathan
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Engagement
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