“Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.” – Thomas Edison
I’d like to present a unique investment opportunity in Unadulterated Food Products. They’re an upstart juice company based in Brooklyn, but as part of full disclosure, the chairman didn’t finish high school. He also has no background in the food and beverage industry. He and his partners know as much about the beverage business as they do about building an atom bomb. The chairman, since his teens he… well… washed windows and graduated to a window-washing brokerage company. But, boy, he’s got moxie and their flagship product is one hundred percent naturally carbonated apple juice. They accidentally let one of the batches ferment last week, and it popped the tops on all the bottles, but you’ve got to break a few eggs to make an omelet, don’t you? How much would you like to invest? Oh… you’re not interested. I understand.
Imagine that pitch was given to you in 1972 and you had the foreknowledge that Unadulterated Foods would turn into Snapple. That dropout window washer was Hyman Golden, who would make a cool $100 million when Snapple was sold to Quaker in 1994. Golden and his partner’s vision was to produce beverages that were made from all-natural ingredients for health-food stores. The bran branched out into iced teas and became a cultural phenomenon in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Quaker’s subsequent failings in producing and marketing the Snapple brand had nothing to do with Golden or his partners.
Golden and his partners built a company using “the best stuff on Earth” and were bought out for $1.7 billion. Never underestimate someone with vision and a dream. Now can I interest you in investing in Unadulterated Food Products?
Accidental Success Accelerators
- List three to five failures or setbacks you’ve had with your product, innovation, or business in the pst couple of years.
- Take some time to analyze and write down the root cause(s) of each failure or setback.
- Now prioritize those prior setbacks or failures as to which ones are worth trying again.
- Develop a plan for each, making certain you address the root cause of the previous failure as you chart your course to success.
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