Thursday, 25 September 2014

Famous Failures






If you have not failed before, it simply means you have not tried something new.
 




13 comments:

  1. failure .... detest by many as if it is a disease

    remember, no room for failure?

    almost all attracted to winners

    in the investing world, hardly anyone talk about their failures

    those who are willing to publish their stock holdings, only go as far as showing you their market value and shy away disclosing the huge paper losses .... their popularity at stake.

    how to be strong if one is so afraid of failure?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Money Honey,

      I was very lucky to have stumbled into my previous company where one of its core value was "Its OK to make mistakes".

      Cutting legs off furniture and asking customers to collect and assemble furniture themselves were some examples of "crazy" ideas that worked!

      But that's after 99 other ideas bombed flat in our face!

      It's a bit like venture capital investing. Most startups will fail; but if one makes it successfully to IPO, all the previous losses will be recouped and more!

      Failures are just opportunities to discover ourselves - what we are really made of, who we want to be, and why are we doing it in the first place

      Delete
  2. MH post above reminded me of those investment course ads I see in the papers.

    Many bragged how much money ONE of their students had made in a few days or a week. None evern talked about how many of their students lost money and how much. Lol.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. No stupid "Gurus". They won't say it. Only naive students believe they are the ones who will make it rich.

      This is number game. No different from temples giving out 4D numbers.

      Some day someone will strike first prize.

      Delete
    2. S-Reit System Investor and CW,

      Some of those "awakened" ones who failed to make money from the internet are those who stumbled on that the real big money in internet marketing is teaching others "how to make money from internet"!


      CW,

      I think we need to tone down our pokes on the "gurus".

      Like that how you attract students to attend your $5 course?

      And if I open a stall outside Kwan Im Ma temple, who will want to ask me - "These 4 numbers can buy?"

      Delete
  3. Ha! Ha!
    Who dares to say he doesn't lose money in the market?
    But i say, "I am now more than your "Millionaire-living-Next-Door" if not for all the $$$ (Losses) i has been making all these 26+ years.
    So trying to apply but very difficult to put into practice WB's 1st principle & 2nd principle of investing . Strange why the 2nd principle he asked us to refer to the 1st principle. Doesn't he is reputed to be the "Oracle of Omaha"? Doesn't he got a lot things to say?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. temperament,

      That's a good one!

      I'll copy with pride:

      If not for the losses on my hair and the gains on my stomach, I would have looked like Lau Tak Hua!

      LOL!


      Delete
  4. SMOL,
    For those times when we tumble and fall it is very clear we have failed.
    But other times, failure can be much more subtle. For example, Sheep A yields 10 bags of wool, while Sheep B yields 9 bags. Does this count as Sheep B has failed to maximise output?
    Some lessons are harder to learn than others, I guess :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. ckw-I99,

      Oh I love these kind of philosophical questions!

      As a shepherd of these 2 sheep, this is what I would say to them:

      1) To sheep A: "Well done! You've always exceeded my expectations! Don't let up now... B is gaining up on you, if you know what I mean."

      I'll give sheep A my "you are my favourite" wink.


      2) To sheep B: "Wow! You really impressed me this time. 2 more bags and you would have been the alpha sheep of the month!"

      And I'll give sheep B my "you can do it!" wink.


      Who is the failure?

      It's the parent who berates his child who have gotten 90 out of 100 test questions right: "Why did you get the 10 questions wrong!!!???"

      Delete
  5. Hi SMOL

    One success is made up of many failures .

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Small Time Investor,

      Yes, 5,000 years of Chinese wisdom agrees with you:

      Failure is the mother of success ;)

      Delete
  6. In investing, can we afford to fail (lose money) 999 and win 1 ten baggers?

    Can afford?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. CW,

      Excellent question!

      If this a math question for the mind, I can't answer.

      But if the question is addressed to the heart, I can answer:

      Investing and trading can be an addiction no different from addiction to sex, gambling, drugs, alcohol, computer gaming, etc.

      So money don't matter if you''re an addict.

      Most don't make money at the end of this journey - on hindsight, they would have wished they had bought wholelife insurance instead....

      "Buy term, invest the rest" sounds intelligent; not so if you have lost most of your investment money...

      Most investors knew the markets is where the majority subsidise the few.

      But if most of us can't be business owners, career so so, can we AFFORD NOT to have a dream to escape?

      Only a lucky few (like coconut) are doing this journey to achieve.

      Delete

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