> The good news: Because few meaningful statistics exist about small, privately held companies, the astronomical business-failure rates that we hear quoted so often tend to be misleading. For instance, a survey done by the U.S. Commerce Dept. says that of every 10 small businesses, 7 will survive their first year, 3 will still be going after 3 years, and only 2 will remain after 5 years.

> Most of us know through experience, however, that a lot of independent businesses do indeed close their doors quickly -- with certain industries more prone to see startups fold than others. Figures compiled by the National Restaurant Assn., for example, show that 80% of independently owned eateries fail within their first two years, for instance.

It doesn't seem to be much worse/different for non-VC. Just smaller scales.