Name: Pivot Through Pain: Bouncing Back from Failure
Start: 2026-08-26T10:30:00.000-06:00
End: 2026-08-26T12:00:00.000-06:00
Location: Ent Center for the Arts

Southern Colorado Startup Week (August 24–28) brings entrepreneurs, innovators, and community together in Colorado Springs, Florence, and Penrose.

SoCo Startup Week 2026

🚀 Pivot Through Pain: Bouncing Back from Failure

Presented by El Pomar Institute for Innovation and Commercialization (EPIIC)

Wednesday, August 26th | 10:30 AM–12:00 PM

Hosted at Ent Center for the Arts at UCCS

Failure is an ever-present companion on the entrepreneurial journey. While no one enjoys failure, what we learn from it often depends on our perspective - and our ability to see beyond the immediate consequences.

Led by Larry Plummer, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Entrepreneurship and El Pomar Chair of Business & Entrepreneurship in the College of Business at UCCS, this session is an interactive workshop designed to help founders, entrepreneurs, and innovators rethink what failure really means and discover how setbacks can become powerful opportunities for learning, resilience, and growth.

During the workshop, we’ll revisit a compelling case of failure from NASA’s storied history and ask a deceptively simple question: Is this a story of failure - or success?

The answer may depend entirely on how you define each.

Together, we’ll explore how our definitions of failure and success shape the way we approach challenges, evaluate outcomes, make decisions, and move forward when things don’t go as planned.

💭 Explore how we define failure, and why our perspective matters

🚀 Examine a fascinating case from NASA’s history and debate whether it represents failure, success, or something in between

🎯 Reframe failure and success through the lens of intentional goals, outcomes, and learning

✍️ Reflect on your own setbacks to uncover lessons and opportunities for growth

🤝 Share, debate, and learn with fellow entrepreneurs through guided, supportive group discussions

🔮 Look ahead to future challenges and consider how what you learn from failure today can shape better outcomes tomorrow

Come prepared to share your perspective, debate your views on failure, reveal your own failure stories, and engage with fellow participants in a supportive, constructive, and candid environment.

Whether you’ve experienced a recent setback, are navigating the uncertainty that comes with building something new, or simply want to become a more resilient founder and leader, you’ll leave with fresh perspectives and a new way to think about one of entrepreneurship’s most constant companions: failure.

Because sometimes the difference between failure and success is what happens next.

Colorado founders, startups, entrepreneurs and small business owners who have encountered failure and want to learn how to pivot from it.