Most Startups Die. That's the Point.
Grammar: Conditionals
A Business English English lesson exploring business.
What's in this lesson
A Business English ESL lesson on business, practising conditionals. The worksheet has a reading, target vocabulary, a grammar reference with practice and discussion questions.
From the reading: Most Startups Die. That's the Point.
Ninety percent of startups fail. You have heard that statistic before. But here is the question nobody asks: what if that number is not a problem? What if it is, in fact, exactly right? Stuart Kauffman, the complexity theorist who coined the phrase adjacent possible, argued that any evolving system — biological or commercial — can only move into territory that is immediately reachable from where it stands. Most attempts to enter that adjacent space will fail. A few will open entirely new rooms. The failures are not waste. They are the map.
Vocabulary
- adjacent possible
- competitive moat
- creative destruction
- post-mortem culture
Grammar: Conditionals
- Mixed conditional
- If they had built a moat early, they would still be in business. — past decision, present consequence
- Inverted mixed
- Had we secured the patent, we would still own that market. — formal register, no 'if'
Discussion questions
- If you could design a system where most attempts fail but the survivors reshape the world, would you call it broken or brilliant?
- Imagine you had to choose: a 90% chance of a transformative breakthrough, or a 90% chance of nothing — would you still invest?
- What would you do if your company had three months of runway left and no clear path to revenue?
Most Startups Die. That's the Point.
Grammar: Conditionals
What's in this lesson:
Full lesson plan with reading, grammar, vocabulary, and discussion.
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