I've used the word "founder" countless times to mean founder of a company, but have never remarked that the primary definition is "to fail."

This isn't a coincidence it turns out. The root of the word is bottom ("as in foundation"). I thought it was interesting how "bottom as in foundation" can go two ways. 1) Failure, as most fledgling pursuits don't go very far and 2) Prime mover, because all things must originate with a dedicated person/team at the base.

The parallels between the etymology of "founder" and the nature of starting a startup are fascinating.