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- Fred Smith of FedEx. FedEx faced not one, but two major setbacks. Initially, this multi-billion dollar company was a term project at Yale University. His professor said, “The concept is interesting and well-formed, but in order to earn better than a 'C', the idea must be feasible.
- Oprah. This renowned communicator had a hard early life. After graduating from college, she took a job at a tv station -- but it didn't last long. She was fired shortly after, as the producer dubbed her “unfit for TV”
- Henry Ford. Henry Ford revolutionized the production of cars. But first, he alienated his investors by taking too long, and subsequently lost funding twice.After the second mishap, Ford’s reputation in the auto industry was abysmal.
- Thomas Edison. This guy takes the cake when it comes to appreciating failures. Rather than use such a harsh word, he considered each “failure” an iteration.
- Bill Gates: Traf-O-Data
- Steve Jobs: Fired by The Company He Helped Found
- Arianna Huffington: Multiple Rejections Before She Found Success
- Thomas Edison: Deemed Too Stupid to Learn Anything
- Walt Disney: Failed Production Company and Labeled as Lacking Creativity
- Fred Smith: A Failing Grade For FedEx
- Nick Woodman: Funbug Flop to GoPro
- J.K. Rowling: Writing Harry Potter on The Dole
- Jeff Bezos: Costly Mistakes Launching Amazon
Have you ever driven over one of those weird black cables that stretch across the road and measure traffic by counting tire bumps? Bill Gates and a few of his friends did, which is why he founded Traf-O-Data. This system recorded traffic information and fed it back to government authorities, civil engineers and others who needed it. The concept ult...
Do you remember the Apple I or Apple Lisa? If not, you’re not alone. These were two products Apple produced that crashed and burned. Unfortunately for Steve Jobs, these were products that he pushed for and cost Apple millions of dollars in development, money it failed to recoup. This pattern of costly production decisions led to Jobs being ousted f...
After Arianna Huffington finished her second book, she received rejection notices from nearly 40 publishers. When she ran for governor of California, she received less than 1 percent of the popular vote. However, she did learn something from her failed political campaign. According to Huffington, running for office taught her about the power of the...
Thomas Edison was expelled from school for being “unteachable.” Fortunately, his mother believed in him and encouraged him to continue his education, even teaching him herself at one point. Unfortunately, things didn’t get any better for Edison when he entered the workforce. He was unceremoniously fired from several of his first jobs because he was...
If you focus on Walt Disney’s failures, it’s amazing that The Walt Disney Company ever reached the level of success it enjoys today. Disney was, at one point, living on dog food and unable to pay his rent. Then, during a contract dispute with Universal Pictures, he lost creative control of his first character, Oswald the Rabbit. Next, MGM rejected ...
Actually, it wasn’t a failing grade. Instead, according to legend, Fred Smith received a grade of C on the writing assignment in which he outlined the basic concept behind FedEx. Smith had noticed that automation was becoming the norm and realized that this would impact the logistics behind package delivery systems, along with many other things. Al...
Have you ever heard of Funbug? Unless you were one of the investors who lost a few million dollars because of it, you probably haven’t. But, if you were one of them, the thought of Funbug probably brings back painful memories. Funbug was a marketing company designed to merge marketing with gaming, but the concept was a miss. Nick Woodman learned fr...
While writing the first Harry Potter book, J.K. Rowling was a single mother receiving welfare benefits. However, she overcame her situation by not only completing the book, but also finding someone to publish it. The person who selected her book for publication did so because her daughter fell in love with the story. Rowling never forgot her humble...
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos made some mind-blowing mistakes while getting the company off the ground and even more after its successful launch. Here are just a few of them: 1. When the company began selling toys and books, Bezos insisted on changing the business model so the company could purchase and store millions of dollars in toys. More than 100 ...
Milton Hershey. Well-known candy businessman Milton Hershey didn’t meet success in his first business go around. Hershey was not only fired from his apprenticeship at a printer, but his first three candy business ventures also failed before he went on to found the Lancaster Carmel Company.
Mar 7, 2024 · Discover how failure is an entrepreneur's stepping stone to success. This article explores how setbacks forge resilience, spark innovation, and have propelled icons like Apple and Amazon, alongside figures like Jack Ma and Sara Blakely, to monumental achievements. Embrace failure, learn, and push boundaries to turn your entrepreneurial dreams ...
- Mark Cuban. Mark Cuban is easily one of the most well-known entrepreneurs of the 21st century. He became a household name for owning the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks and being one of the original sharks on the hit show Shark Tank.
- James Dyson. James Dyson (yes, as in the Dyson vacuum cleaner), wasn’t always known as the inventor of a wildly successful home product. Before Dyson became a household name, it took him fifteen years and over five thousand (yes, five thousand) failed prototypes to create the world’s first bagless vacuum.
- Vera Wang. Vera Wang is one of the most famous fashion designers on the planet — but it wasn’t always that way. Wang actually started her professional career as a figure skater hoping to make it to the Olympics.
- Milton Hershey. Recognize the last name? Who doesn’t know Hershey’s chocolate? Now found on the shelves of virtually every major grocery store and market in the U.S., Hershey’s wasn’t always a beloved American brand.
Feb 12, 2014 · Failed Olympic Figure Skater: Vera Wang. If Vera Wang had made the 1968 U.S. Olympic figure-skating team, she might not have revolutionized the bridal industry. While in high school, she competed ...
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Dec 29, 2023 · Here are the stories of 33 entrepreneurs who encountered a failure on their path to success, demonstrating the resilience and determination required to overcome obstacles and achieve remarkable accomplishments. 1. Walt Disney. Walt Disney began his career in animation with Laugh-O-Gram Studio, which went bankrupt.
