Great mistakes: magnificent missteps through history
We love our heroes polished and triumphant—but what if their mistakes were the best part? Some famous people made major misjudgements, missed chances, bad calls, or sheer human folly. Some paid dearly, and others got away with it. All have something to teach us
Nikola Tesla: The Genius Who Gave It All Away
Nikola Tesla lit up the world—literally—but forgot to read the fine print.
A Serbian-American inventor of near-mythical intensity, Tesla pioneered alternating current, wireless communication, and robotics. But for all his brilliance, he had the business sense of a potato.
In 1885, Tesla sold the rights to his AC patents to industrialist George Westinghouse. When Westinghouse faced financial pressure, Tesla tore up the royalty contract—a gesture of loyalty and vision. Unfortunately, it also cost him millions in future earnings.
Later, Tesla dreamed up the Wardenclyffe Tower, a massive structure for wireless power transmission. J.P. Morgan, who financed it, famously asked, “Where do we put the meter?” Tesla had no answer. Funding dried up, and the tower was dismantled.
By his death in 1943, Tesla lived in a New York hotel room, feeding pigeons and theorising about death rays. He had 300 patents, a head full of wonders, and not a cent to his name.
Lesson:
Vision without strategy is stardust. Even geniuses need a business plan.
Fast-forward a decade. Netflix had redefined home entertainment. Blockbuster declared bankruptcy in 2010.
The great irony? Blockbuster had the resources, infrastructure, and customer base to dominate the streaming age. It just couldn’t see the future—or admit the world was changing.
changing.
Lesson:
The worst mistake isn’t betting on the wrong horse. It’s refusing to bet at all.
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4. Howard Hughes: When Genius Turns Inward
Howard Hughes had it all: money, fame, talent, and enough charisma to launch an airline or a movie studio, which he did.
By the 1930s and 1940s, Hughes was a bold aviator and daring entrepreneur. He set world airspeed records, produced controversial films, and developed high-performance aircraft. But beneath the swagger, cracks were forming.
He also produced the world’s biggest aircraft at the time, the Spruce Goose. Despite the nickname, it was made mostly of birch, not spruce. The plane was designed as a massive cargo-type flying boat during World War II, but it only flew once—for about 30 seconds in 1947—with Hughes himself at the controls.
After multiple crashes and injuries, Hughes’s mental health spiralled. He became obsessed with cleanliness, isolated himself in darkened rooms, and fixated on bizarre routines. Despite heading Hughes Aircraft and having vast wealth, he became more of a ghost than a mogul.
His biggest mistake? Believing that brilliance alone was enough, he could out-think, out-spend, or out-hide any problem, including his own deteriorating mind.
By his death in 1976, Hughes hadn’t cut his nails in years. He weighed 90 pounds and was unrecognisable.
Lesson:
You can conquer the skies and still lose yourself. Genius needs grounding.
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5. Steve Jobs: The Genius Apple Let Go
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2. Thomas Edison: The Man Who Couldn’t Let Go
Thomas Edison brought us the lightbulb, the phonograph—and a war of egos he refused to lose.
Edison was a fierce defender of direct current (DC) electricity. When Tesla and Westinghouse promoted alternating current (AC) as more efficient for long-distance power, Edison launched a smear campaign. He even helped electrocute animals in public demonstrations to show how “dangerous” AC was.
In his determination to win the “War of the Currents,” Edison became his own worst enemy. He refused to adapt. His rivals electrified the Chicago World’s Fair in 1893.
AC won, while Edison lost. Eventually, the company bearing his name merged into General Electric and adopted AC.
Nicola Tesla initially held the company’s patents but lost the rights, so he missed out on millions, possibly billions, of dollars.
Add to Edison’s obsession with inventing a “spirit phone” to talk to the dead, and you start to see a brilliant and blinkered man.
Lesson:
When ego drives the engine, innovation runs out of fuel.
Want to know more? Andrew meets Tesla in his forthcoming book Conversations with Visionaries.
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3. Blockbuster: The $50 Million Miss
In 2000, Netflix co-founder Reed Hastings approached Blockbuster with a $50 million offer. The idea was that Blockbuster would buy Netflix and take it under its wing.
Blockbuster laughed them out of the room.
At the time, Blockbuster was a retail behemoth with 9,000 stores. Netflix was a mail-order oddity. Streaming hadn’t taken off. The internet was still dial-up in many homes. Why risk it?
Fast-forward a decade. Netflix had redefined home entertainment. Blockbuster declared bankruptcy in 2010.
The visionary co-founder—the man who put computers on desks and dreams in people’s pockets—was shown the door at the company he built. It was like Disney firing Walt or Tesla firing Elon (wait… never mind). But still, it was a tech tragedy.
The backstory? Jobs had recruited PepsiCo executive John Sculley to help Apple scale. But tensions flared. Jobs was mercurial, brilliant, and often impossible. Sculley was corporate, cautious, and had the board’s ear. A power struggle ensued. Sculley won. Jobs was out.
The company limped along without him, releasing beige boxes and losing its spark. Meanwhile, Jobs founded NeXT and acquired a little animation studio called Pixar. You might’ve heard of it.
In 1997, with Apple floundering, the prodigal founder returned. He slashed product lines, simplified design, and unleashed a run of innovations: the iMac, iPod, iPhone, and iPad. He didn’t just save Apple; he made it iconic.
Sculley? He left in 1993 and later admitted, “I didn’t really know what a computer was. I had to learn.”
Lesson:
You can fire the visionary—but you can’t fire the vision.
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