Angry Birds, the incredibly popular game, was software maker Rovio’s 52nd attempt. They spent eight years and nearly went bankrupt before finally creating their massive hit.

Pinterest is one of the fastest-growing websites in history, but struggled for a long time. Pinterest’s CEO recently said that it had “catastrophically small numbers” in its first year after launch and that if he had listened to popular startup advice he probably would have quit.

James Dyson failed in 5,126 prototypes before perfecting his revolutionary vacuum cleaner. Groupon was put on life support and nearly shut down at one point in its meteoric rise.

When looking at the most successful people and organizations, we often imagine geniuses with a smooth journey straight to the promised land. But when you really examine nearly every success story, they are filled with crushing defeats, near-death experiences, and countless setbacks.

Phil Libin remembers the moment he left childhood behind. It was nearly four years ago, when the funding for his Internet start-up fell through. He was 35.

It had all been so much fun until then. But at 3 a.m., out of cash and having waited in vain for a venture capitalist or angel or CEO or anyone at all to return his increasingly desperate calls, Libin knew that he would have to pull the plug on Evernote, a software application that helps people remember things. "I realized I was going to have to wake up tomorrow and lay off everyone in the company," he says.

Exhausted and demoralized, he was reaching for the light switch when his e-mail dinged. A momentary blast of hope—but no, just a message from a fan, something he had been getting more and more of lately. This one was from some guy in Sweden, a fellow software entrepreneur, and it was the usual "Evernote has changed my life" sort of thing. Libin almost missed the last line: "If you ever need any money let me know."

Feeling more awake, Libin typed back: "It just so happens we could use some cash. How much did you have in mind?"

The answer came right back: "Would half a million dollars be enough?"

In fact, Liverpool was an ideal place for such a conference because the city provides a vivid demonstration of three points that should be at the heart of discussions of the subject. The first is that entrepreneurial economies can be destroyed by ill winds or bad policies. The second is that the cost of such destruction is high, especially because decline becomes self-reinforcing. The third is that the flame of enterprise is hard to rekindle when it has been snuffed out.

If what he’s doing is working, he’s positioned to step on the gas pedal. If customers don’t buy his services, he’s ready to pivot, like any smart serial entrepreneur these days. “Until you get it out in front of random strangers who are willing to pay for it, you really don’t know,” he says.