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The information technology field and the IT professionals who work in it have certainly portrayed a different version of ‘economic downturn’ than any other field in the economy.  Even as the economy slowly crawls back, IT jobs multiply exponentially, often outnumbering the amount of IT consultants who can take them.  All this success means that failure is also portrayed pretty differently in the IT field.  IT contractors and IT headhunters have some rather inspiring “failures” to look up to.

Myspace can show IT recruiters and IT contractors just how sweet “failure” can taste.  The New York Times recently reported that Myspace’s founding team has created a menagerie of startups, each member going on to find their own success in a new company they have founded or co-founded.  While Myspace is arguably pretty much irrelevant now, its failure is certainly not an indicator of the success its founders have reached.

Another example of “failure” that doesn’t taste particularly bitter is Andrew Mason, ex-CEO of Groupon.  Mason’s very public firing didn’t even seem to faze him as it occurred.  His tongue-in-cheek letter to employees telling them that he was fired showed a pretty relaxed attitude towards the whole debacle.  Mason is currently consulting at Y-Combinator and has put out a CD of inspirational career songs.  The second part of that statement is odd, but the first is pretty telling.  Mason is not worried about where he will end up, and is likely just fishing for his next opportunity while working at Y-Combinator.