Miha Matlievski | Succeeding at Failing

Bragging about success is easy: opening up about your failures — and learning from them — takes hard work. Even self-described “Fail Coach” Miha Matlievski admits it took him years.

In 2009, the recession put Miha $5 million in debt. Bankrupt and hounded by creditors, he contemplated suicide — until he realized he had failed, which meant he could also change.

Miha was used to fighting from behind. After dropping out of high school, he joined his dad’s business but suddenly found himself in charge when his dad died unexpectedly.

“I had no clue what I was doing,” Miha admits, “but somehow I managed, and started creating new companies.” By 2009, he had multiple successful businesses. 

But Miha was still naive about things like personal liability and asset protection. When the recession hit Europe in 2009, Miha lost everything in a single day, including his personal assets. 

“I went from a $15 million personal net worth to $5 million in debt,” he says. Suddenly Miha was receiving daily phone calls from increasingly threatening creditors.

Depressed and anxious, he contemplated suicide. One day, he almost went through with it. 

In that moment, Miha realized that he’d been blaming everyone else for his failure when he had to take responsibility too.

And if he was responsible — not some external force — then he could change whatever had gone wrong.

Miha made a list of everything he needed to improve. He called his creditors and worked out plans to pay them back. He started working with a friend. 

Slowly but surely, Miha climbed out of the hole. Three and a half years later, he sold his business to a Fortune 100 company.

That experience has made Miha appreciate the power of failure, and also the ways people resist talking about it. Now, he helps others accept failure and look for lessons they can use.

“I feel like a bigger billionaire than Jeff Bezos in my heart because I can share the story and help others. I wouldn't change a single thing because then I wouldn't have the experience, I wouldn't be who I am and do what I do.”  
 

🧑 Name: Miha Matlievski

⚙️ What he does: Entrepreneur and self-described “Fail Coach,” teaching development skills to people who want to move on from failure and learn to see it as a tool.

🪑 Organization: Fail Coach

💎 Words of wisdom: “Building a business is the same as building a house: first the foundation, then you build up. If you want to build a bigger house later on, you go back to the foundations, you increase those first, then you can build higher.”

🔍 Where to find the Fail Coach: Facebook | Twitter | LinkedIn | YouTube  

💡 Beginner’s luck: When Miha’s father died suddenly, Miha took over his business, and managed to grow it despite having no experience.

💡 The worst day: In 2009, the Great Recession hit Eastern Europe. Miha lost not just his businesses but also his personal assets in a single day.

💡 Creditorment: Now $5 million in debt and with creditors threatening him, Miha became depressed and attempted suicide. 

💡 The power to change: Before he could go through with it, Miha realized he’d been shifting the blame to others when he had failed too. And that meant he could change.

💡 Taking action: Miha took steps to address the ways he’d failed. He wrote down everything he needed to change and improve and worked out payments with his creditors.

💡 The comeback: For his next business, Miha made sure he didn’t repeat his past mistakes. He eventually sold it to a Fortune 100 company.

💡 Fixing failures: Miha believes people are too scared to talk about the ways they have failed. He teaches people the skills to make it easier, so they can learn lessons and do better in the future.

Miha Matlievski:

“We feel that we have got much better with seeing failure as a good thing, especially in Silicon Valley. But it takes years of practicing a whole lot of different things to really be OK with failure.”

“I knew that I needed to change my life if I wanted a different outcome.”

“I always was a fighter, but for so many months I stopped seeing any light. I wasn't able to find anything to fight for. But when I realized that it was actually all me, the good thing was that I could change. That's when I started fighting again.”

“I needed three and a half years of daily fighting with all my inner demons, with all my past habits, everything that I was before that moment. That was a daily struggle. It was one hell of a ride.”

“It's easy to work on things on the outside and to see what others are doing wrong. The hardest work is the work that you do on yourself.”