Walt Disney gained worldwide fame with the animated film ‘Steamboat Willie,’ but Disney’s first studio went bankrupt. By the mid-1930s, he had produced over 400 animations, most of which suffered heavy losses. In 1938, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs made $8 million in just the first half—more than ten times the earnings of other films. Meanwhile, with this animation, the company paid overdue wages to its employees and recovered the losses it had sustained. An unusual event that changes everything is called a “tail event.” 40% of publicly listed companies in the U.S. stock market lose nearly all their market capitalization 10 years after going public. Business and investing, after all, are based on probabilities. No one knows what the “tail event” will be. Therefore, to succeed, you need to try small, steady, many times with little impact, even if you fail. - Joseph’s “just my thoughts”
The Japan Airlines that no one thought would ever recover. It was the biggest corporate bankruptcy in Japan. When Kyocera Group Chairman Emeritus Kazuo Inamori took the helm to save Japan Airlines, his priority was to reform the mindset of the employees. Whenever he could, he gathered all employees for lectures on mental reform, and executives were required to attend a separate lecture on mental reform given by Kazuo Inamori every Thursday without exception. The employees' frustration was palpable, but the company returned to the stock market after two years and eight months. There is no magic in running a company. Attitude and mindset are everything. - Joseph's "just my thoughts"