Success (and Failure)

By: Dave Weidlich | Date: January 26, 2015 | Categories: quotes

http://www.entrepreneur.com/slideshow/219445

Henry Ford

Company: Ford Motor Co.

Setback: Ford suffered a few failed automotive endeavors early in his career, including Detroit Automobile Co., which he started in 1899. Its cars were low quality and too pricey for average consumers.

Turnaround: Ford continued to develop better auto designs and gained national acclaim in 1904 by demoing a car — the “Ford 999” — that broke the land-speed record by going a mile in about 40 seconds. In 1908, he released the Model T, a well-made, low-priced car that quickly gained traction with U.S. consumers. Annual sales topped $250,000 by 1914.

Quote: “Whether you think you can, or you think you can’t — you’re right.”

Lesson: Building a brand requires more than just building a good product..

Anita Roddick

Quote: “If you think you’re too small to have an impact, try going to bed with a mosquito.”

Walt Disney

Company: The Walt Disney Co. (now Disney Corp.)

Setback: The cartoon animation pioneer weathered several major financial setbacks in the late 1920s and 1930s, including losing rights to the popular Oswald the Lucky Rabbit character. His company was $4 million in debt by the early 1930s.

Turnaround: With barely enough cash to finance the project, Disney released “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” in 1938. The blockbuster movie sprung the company out of bankruptcy and bankrolled the building of a new Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, Calif.

Quote: “You may not realize it when it happens, but a kick in the teeth may be the best thing in the world for you.”

Lesson: One killer idea can quickly make up for a series of flops.

Steve Jobs

Company: Apple Computer

Setback: After his forced resignation from Apple in 1985, Jobs spent the following several years developing NeXT, a computer workstation for educators. But with a high price tag and reports of numerous bugs, sales never materialized. The company burned through hundreds of millions of investor dollars.

Turnaround: Apple announced it would buy NeXT in 1996, bringing Jobs back to the company as interim CEO. He’s since developed the iPod and iPad, making Apple one of the most successful Fortune 500 companies of the past decade.

Quote: “You can’t just ask customers what they want and then try to give that to them. By the time you get it built, they’ll want something new.”

Lesson: Having the right resources and people around you makes a big difference.

Bill Gates

Quote: “Success is a lousy teacher. It seduces smart people into thinking they can’t lose.”

Colonel Sanders

Quote: “Feed the poor and get rich or feed the rich and get poor.”

More…

http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/241928

4. “The last 10% it takes to launch something takes as much energy as the first 90%.”
–Rob Kalin, co-founder of Etsy

“Make your team feel respected, empowered and genuinely excited about the company’s mission.”
–Tim Westergren, co-founder of Pandora

7. “Make something people want” includes making a company that people want to work for.” –Sahil Lavingia, founder of Gumroad.

8. “As an entrepreneur, you have to be OK with failure. If you’re not failing, you’re likely not pushing yourself hard enough.”
–Alexa von Tobel, founder of LearnVest

14. “Bad shit is coming. It always is in a startup. The odds of getting from launch to liquidity without some kind of disaster happening are one in a thousand. So don’t get demoralized.”
–Paul Graham, co-founder of Y Combinator

19. “Don’t start a company unless it’s an obsession and something you love. If you have an exit strategy, it’s not an obsession.”
–Mark Cuban, serial entrepreneur and investor

20. “Sustaining a successful business is a hell of a lot of work, and staying hungry is half the battle.”
–Wendy Tan White, co-founder and CEO of MoonFruit