In the end, we only regret the chances we didn\’t take

In the end, we only regret the chances we didn\’t take

Take a peep around and you would be amazed by the history of risk taking in the world around us

  • Fred Smith graduated in economics from Yale University in the year 1962. While the norms of the times were that shippers transported large packages by truck or passenger airplanes, he thought it would be more efficient to carry small, essential items by plane.

In 1971, Smith founded FedEx on this idea with $4 million of inheritance and $80 million in loans and equity investments. FedEx started out with eight planes, covering 35 cities, and it had ambitious plans

But in the first two years, primarily due to rising fuel costs, the company found itself millions of dollars in debt and on the brink of bankruptcy. Even worse, Smith\’s vital pitch for funding to the General Dynamics board was rejected.

When FedEx\’s funds dwindled to just $5,000, Smith realized he didn\’t have enough to fuel the planes. The company had already gone to many extremes, from pilots using their personal credit cards to fuel planes to uncashed pay checks.

So what\’s did the desperate founder do?

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He impulsively flew to Las Vegas and played blackjack with the last of the company money.

Amazingly, when he came back the next week, he had turned the remaining $5,000 into $27,000 – just enough for the company to stay in operation for another week. This inspired him to raise another round of funding and eventually move on to create a $ 42.91 billion company.

  • Larry Page and Sergey Brin had almost sold off Google to Excite CEO George Bell in 1999. Brin and Page nearly gave up their would-be fortune because the search engine they built was taking up too much of their time and distracting them from their graduate studies. The risky transaction did not happen because Bell rejected their offer and negotiated them down to $750,000. Google is now worth $ 487 billion as on date.
  • In the late ’90s, Apple was struggling to meet sales goals amidst organisational power struggles. It was almost close to bankruptcy before Steve Jobs took over as CEO and created an iconic company worth. $ 521 billion
  • Mark Zuckerberg\’s Facebook was two years old when Yahoo offered $1 billion to buy the dorm-room start-up. Zuckerberg was seriously tempted by the offer, but ultimately chose to preserve his independence. \”There is so much more to do here,\” he told the Wall Street Journal. One year later, in 2007, Microsoft made an offer of $15 billion. Zuckerberg declined again. Now, the social network is valued around $100 billion
  • In 2011, after winning the World Cup Final against Sri Lanka, captain Dhoni admitted that he took precarious chances.

 

“Why I brought in S Sreesanth instead of Ravichandran Ashwin and why I promoted myself in the batting order ahead of Yuvraj who has been in great form. It could have been that the decisions cost the match”

 

  • Salman Khan was originally offered the role of Ajay Sharma in ‘Baazigar’ but the actor turned it down. Similarly, both Sunny Deol and Ajay Devgan turned down the role of Rahul Mehra in ‘Darr’. Shah Rukh Khan not only played these two negative characters but also played Vijay in ‘Anjaam’-another role with a deep shade of grey. Had this been at a later stage in his career, it may not have been such a risky move. But to play them so early in his career was a far cry from conventional wisdom which said

“Playing an anti-hero in the early stages of your career will send you downwards”

SRK turned that wisdom on its head and used the negative roles as his launch pad to be go on to become King Khan

What would you have done had you been in the shoes of Fred, Larry Page and Sergey Brin Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg, Dhoni or Shahrukh Khan?

I am sure a lot of us would have found the idea of playing blackjack to be outrageous, would have sold off early and probably would have chosen to play safe in our careers.

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It is absolutely fascinating how our mind tricks us into believing that we may fail. And we hold ourselves back.

  • Who would have thought that a petrol attendant at Aden would create one of India’s most valuable enterprise?
  • Who would have thought that a Yogi teaching pranayama would create a behemoth that would unsettle the who’s who of the Indian FMCG? There was this MNC that scoffed at the idea of Indian using salt and charcoal based toothpaste when it entered India. But unnerved by his sales numbers for Danta Kanti, the same has gone the Ayurveda way
  • A rupee invested in the IPOs of Wipro (Year 1980) and Infosys (Year 1993) would have translated into INR 5, 24,160 and 3100 as on date respectively. But I am sure there would have been so many would have scoffed at the idea of investing in these companies
  • A couple of years ago, a batch mate of mine from college, a rank holder in all levels of CA & CS and University Topper quit a plum job in the M&A Advisory of a Big 4 firm. He wanted to teach tuitions in the super competitive CA coaching market of Kolkata. Doomsayers wondered at the sanity of this decision. This season, he has finally made it big. We gather that he could secure 600 students for CA Cost & FM classes. With each paying Rs 12,000 each, he raked in Rs 72 lacs for a 6 month session.
  • Another close friend from school, Class KG -12 in Don Bosco and graduation in Xavier’s, decided to opt for UPSC exams as a path. So while we chose paths that were safe, that could allow us to earn that coveted salary quickly, he was patiently pursuing his dream. Honestly speaking, we often doubted where he would be able to make it all the way
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He recently graduated as an IAS officer. He will join as the Assistant Magistrate & Assistant Collector of Hooghly; the district where he was born and brought up. Imagine the pride when your self-belief stands vindicated

Many of us have felt the desire to venture past the limits of safety in pursuit of a rewarding experience.  But have held ourselves back. All our life, we have been so careful to protect ourselves against failure, never mind the opportunities that were missed

 “Every time she entered the classroom, my heart skipped a beat.”

We all have had that one silent crush in school/college life. It’s just so natural. But sadly, we never could communicate our feelings.

“What if she didn’t reciprocate?’

“What if she mocked me and told me to get lost.’

We all have had fights with close friends, often leading to stalemates in relationship. How often have we felt like going across and saying

‘Chal yaar, lets start afresh’

But we are afraid and hold ourselves back.

How many times did you want to apply to a course, job or internship, but your mind went ballistic and actually made you believe that you are not the right match? So you closed the tab, tucked away your CV and you simply took your mind off it. Similarly you said no to offers of international stints in your company, move into challenging roles beyond your comfort zones

So many of us have missed an opportunity to take part in an elocution contest in school, participate in a debate or try a new sport, simply because we were afraid

‘What if they laugh at me?’

What if I fall down and get hurt?’

Do you remember that T-shirt for yourself but decided to wait and it was gone?

Or maybe that time when you were unsure whether to go on vacation and the promotion expired?

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Wish we all suffered from the classical ‘Optimism Bias’– a cognitive bias that causes a person to believe that they are less at risk of experiencing a negative event compared to others

Wish there would have been a ‘Decision Failure’ Insurance!!

We would have happily paid an annual premium and get compensated by the insurance company, whenever we failed in love or life.

But sadly, it does not exist and thus this perennial rift between faith and self-doubt, all those ‘what-ifs’ clouding your mind

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Why not let’s take those risks

Risk taking the road less travelled, getting turned down, not getting the job, failing, putting it all on the line, missing out in order to achieve something greater, making a mistake, that person not saying “I love you too”, losing friendships, not being good enough, opening up and being vulnerable and admitting that you don\’t know

Because as they say

“In The End We Only Regret the Chances We Did Not Take”

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