I talked to a second-time founder recently. She had a modest exit from her first company and wants to build another, bigger company. She’s hard at work, and I can tell from our conversation that she learned a lot from her first journey that she’s incorporating into her new start-up. She made painful mistakes and has had time to reflect on them, which has allowed her to grow as an entrepreneur.

Many people don’t realize that a lot of successful entrepreneurs don’t hit a home run during the first at bat. They may hit a single, or even strike out, many times. All those at bats are learning opportunities (some of them painful) that hopefully will set the founder up for the grand slam.

If you’re a founder and you don’t knock it out of the park the first time, that’s OK. Remember, it’s a failure only if you didn’t learn anything.