The Failures
Rewriting the future from our mistakes in the past.
Our vision is to build a global community where people openly share real failures so others can learn, grow, and avoid repeating the same mistakes. By turning personal setbacks into collective knowledge, we aim to make learning from failure accessible, honest, and empowering for everyone.
Our Product
Failure Archive
A communal platform where users can write about their failures across a multitude of topics, share areas where they wish they did better, and access a unique learning feature. Our step-by-step learning approach minimizes the overwhelming feeling of learning something new for the first time, transforming failures into structured, actionable insights.
Our Team
Our team brings together expertise in both business strategy and technical development. Ben and Nick focus on the business side—handling market research, business development, user engagement, and strategic planning. Andrew and Ryan lead the technical development— building the platform, architecting systems, and implementing features.
Ben Rainey
Business & Strategy
As a junior studying Computer Science and Business at Lehigh, I pride myself in my ability to make data-driven, evidence-based decisions. I am comfortable working in an adaptive environment. I have previous intern experience with startups, specifically working as a frontend developer and also as a project manager intern for two different startup companies. Going forward, I hope to have a career path that lies somewhere within the intersection of business and technology, as I do find enjoyment from all aspects of the CSB experience. Aside from my life as a student, I enjoy running outside as a hobby.
Nick Dubois
Business & Analytics
I am very hardworking and like to stay on top of all my work. I have previous experience during two separate internships. The first one I did some data analytics using Python tools such as numpy and pandas. The second I worked in a team doing full stack development as well as some project management. I am very interested in fintech and stay up to date on how tech is shaping the finance world. The main technologies I am familiar with would be Python, SQL, Java and C. Outside of school I enjoy going to the gym and playing basketball.
Andrew Van Ostrand
Technical Development
Hi, my name is Andrew. I'm passionate about building scalable full-stack applications, optimizing systems, and leveraging AI/ML to solve real-world problems. Most recently worked as a Software Engineer Intern at Vomar Products, where I've built production tracking systems that serve 50+ employees over 150+ concurrent manufacturing jobs. I'm also contributing to compiler research at Lehigh, developing RDMA integration frameworks that significantly improve performance over traditional storage architectures.
Ryan Siegrist
Technical Development
Hello, my name is Ryan Siegrist and I am an Application Development Intern at Cencora/AmerisourceBergen. I have worked in a startup environment before with RevGen Labs as a Software Engineer Intern. My core experience is primarily in software development and leadership, and I have experience with a wide range of languages and frameworks. My greatest strengths are fast learning and adaptability, I can flex and fill almost any role on any team/project. For hobbies I am very into fitness and the science behind it, as well as video games/esports. I also freelance as an audio engineer (tracking/mixing/mastering).
Our Core Values
Communication
Open, honest dialogue at every level
Respect
Valuing every perspective and contribution
Passion
Driven by purpose and enthusiasm
Customer-focused
Building solutions users truly need
Accountability
Taking ownership of our commitments
How We Operate
Tools & Platforms
- ▸Linear: Sprint tracking, backlog management, and documentation
- ▸GitHub: Version control and code repository
- ▸iMessage: Team communication and quick updates
Meeting Cadence
Free-form discussion where everyone has an equal opportunity to speak. Members fully express their thoughts and receive constructive feedback from teammates. When disagreements arise, we engage in thorough discussion to understand all perspectives and proceed with our best collective decision.
Accountability
All team members keep each other accountable. If any member is falling behind on their work, we schedule check-in meetings to understand challenges, provide support, and ensure we get back on track together. We succeed as a team.