It’s easy (and kind of fun) to laugh at the misfortune of CEOs and other high up business types when they bring it on themselves – so let’s do that now. Herein lies some of the worst business decisions ever made, hindsight being 20/20, of course.
AI Summary
# Summary
Josh and Chuck explore eight major business blunders by corporate leaders who famously rejected or mismanaged innovations that could have transformed their companies. From Western Union's dismissal of Alexander Graham Bell's telephone patent to Blockbuster's refusal to buy Netflix for $50 million, the hosts reveal how fear, pride, and misunderstanding of emerging technologies led to catastrophic failures. They also dig into Kodak's invention and subsequent abandonment of digital photography, Excite's rejection of Google, JC Penney's ill-fated pricing overhaul, and Coke's infamous New Coke disaster, showing how even brilliant companies can make spectacularly wrong calls when they fail to listen to customers or underestimate competition.
"it's just littered with avatars, and and Avengers and stuff like that. — Mentioned when discussing high-grossing films on Box Office Mojo."
— Josh
Barbie
2023
PG-13
1h 54m
★ 6.9
"And guess what? Barbie's already at number 15 all time. — Referenced as recently achieving impressive box office numbers."
— Josh
Beverly Hills Cop
1984
1h 45m
★ 7.2
"I had a oh, yeah Family at our church even ran their own little video store and you'd rent the VCR when you also rented Beverly Hills Cop. — Used as an example of movies people would rent on VCR from video rental stores in the 1980s."
— Josh
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
1982
1h 55m
★ 7.5
"ET colon: the extra terrestrial, uh, very popular movie, some might say, some might say it's a classic. — Discussed as a major box office success and example of successful product placement with Reese's Pieces candy."
— Josh
Excalibur
1981
2h 21m
★ 7.0
"you just could not get your copy of Excalibur and some nerd walks up and dumps it through the slot — Example of a popular movie people would try to rent at Blockbuster video stores."
— Chuck
General Hospital
1963
★ 5.8
"General Hospital started in 1936. — Referenced as one of the longest-running TV shows in America for comparison."
— Chuck
Guiding Light
1952
TV-14
★ 5.7
"Guiding light came the year after — Referenced as one of the longest-running TV shows, compared to Monday Night Football."
— Chuck
Mary Poppins
1964
2h 19m
★ 7.5
"Something about Mary Poppins? Exactly. — Referenced in an advertisement for The Puzzler podcast as an example of a puzzle."
Monday Night Football
1970
"it started in 1970, right? Yeah, do we even say what day was it? Well, it was a Monday in 1970. — Major television program discussed as a significant bad business decision that was initially rejected by other networks."
— Josh
Oppenheimer
2023
R
3h 1m
★ 8.0
"I finally saw Oppenheimer too. My god, it's a good movie. — Recently watched and praised by Josh as a good film."
— Josh
Raiders of the Lost Ark
1981
1h 55m
★ 7.9
"I read the novelization of Raiders of the Lost Ark. How was it? It was great. — Mentioned as an example of movie novelizations that differ slightly from the film."
— Josh
"Sesame Street's been on even longer. — Mentioned as one of the longest-running TV shows in America."
— Josh
The Brady Bunch
1969
★ 6.7
"He was on the brainy bunch. — Referenced as a show Joe Namath appeared on during his popularity as a sex symbol."
— Josh
The Doris Day Show
1968
★ 6.2
"We're getting great ratings with the Doris Day show and laughing. — Referenced as a popular show CBS didn't want to preempt for Monday Night Football."
— Josh
The Passion of the Christ
2004
R
2h 7m
★ 7.5
"the number three all-time movie non-franchise little orphanage Passion of the Christ — Listed as the third highest-grossing non-franchise film despite boycotts by churches."
— Josh
Titanic
1997
3h 14m
★ 7.9
"it is the number two all time movie that is not a franchise movie. Nice. So not bad, second only to Titanic. — Referenced as the highest-grossing non-franchise film of all time, compared to E.T."
— Josh
Turner & Hooch
1989
PG
1h 39m
★ 6.3
"I went in there for gleaming the queue and I walk out with Turner and Hooch. — Example of accidentally renting a movie at Blockbuster that wasn't on your intended list."
— Josh
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