Visionaries Make Mistakes…Nobody is Perfect!

Steve Jobs, Reed Hastings, Jack Welch, Ratan Tata, Kishore Biyani, V G Siddhartha

Each of these visionaries was not perfect. They made missteps. Some got lucky, some were not.

Hastings (Netflix) proposed to raise prices by 60% without an explanation to consumers. The result – A huge consumer backlash & a huge loss of subscriptions. 

Steve Jobs was fired from Apple for several dud projects & poor sales of Mac. However, he came back with a bang with iPhone, iPad etc.

Jack Welch stretched GE Capital which was dependent on short-term financing. In the 2008 recession, it dried up. GE nearly got wiped out. Welch’s successors had to face the music.

Ratan Tata’s Nano was a great product but somehow did not resonate with the Indian consumer. They got the positioning wrong and ever since that, the car sales went downhill.

Both Kishore Biyani & V G Siddhartha changed the landscape of the businesses there were in. KB in retail & VGS in coffee. They took risks in business that did not pan out.

In both cases, they stretched themselves with a mountain of debt that haemorrhaged cash flows & profitability.

Let’s give credit where it is due. These visionaries have changed the business landscape. And their contribution can never be underplayed