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I have found the following articles providing examples of business
ventures that were initially perceived to be no win situations turned
out to be great success stories. I wasn?t able to find much earlier
quotes but the articles provide interesting summaries of the cases.
?The Passion of the Christ? Movie Venture:
This was deemed to be a very financially risky and potentially career
ending film for Mel Gibson by several critics.
?Gibson produced, directed and co-wrote ?The Passion,? and spent $25
million of his own money making it. Throughout the process, the
Oscar-winning ?Braveheart? director also has defended himself, his
family and his film against ugly anti-Semitism accusations, insisting
that the film is designed to ?inspire not offend.??
Quote from an observer:
?It?s hard to fathom that a movie in two ancient languages, that is so
religious and so focused on suffering and torture of somebody, would
be a blockbuster.?
?The Passion? is poised for success? (Associated Press)
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4302181
?All of that has come about because of a modestly budgeted picture
made with Gibson's own money (for about $26.5 million), shot in the
extinct Aramaic language and filmed under stupendously difficult
conditions during a biting Italian winter. "Passion" has ignited
arguably the most ferocious reaction to any American film since D.W.
Griffith's 1915 classic "The Birth of a Nation" -- even more fierce
than that to Martin Scorsese's 1988 drama "The Last Temptation of
Christ" -- polarizing critics and audiences but breaking records by
earning $609.5 million at the worldwide boxoffice and selling 11
million-12 million units on DVD and VHS since its Aug. 31 release via
20th Century Fox Home Entertainment.?
Quote from Mel Gibson:
??thought it was a small film,? Gibson says. ?thought there would be
some appeal -- what's the word? -- there was a 'desire' for it, (but)
I was floored by (the reaction) and the ferocity of the controversy.
It went on for a year, (with) 68 or 70 separate editorials in the New
York Times -- that's better than one a week, none of them nice.??
?Innovator of the Year: Mel Gibson? by Stephen Galloway
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr/film/feature_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000719418
?Gibson showed considerable courage that's paid off big-time for him.
It's doubtful that he envisioned the level of monetary success the
film has enjoyed or even that money was a driving force for him. His
personal passion for the project seems very genuine whether one agrees
or disagrees with the specific nature of his religious point of view.
Moreover, given reports of how distributors around town turned down
the chance to release "Passion," it's clear that nobody saw this as
being the moneymaker it's become.?
?Gibson breaks Hollywood's 10 Commands? by Martin A. Grove
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr/columns/grove_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000464071
--------------------
CNN (Cable News Network):
Initially observers were wondering who would watch a 24 hour news channel.
?When CNN went on air (or, actually, on cable) two decades ago, it was
an audacious enterprise, scoffed at by the Big Broadcast Boys in New
York as the Chicken Noodle Network. For years, the big three networks
had gotten by with a half-hour news show a night, and now here was
Turner, hyping a news channel.?
?Now, 20 years later, CNN sees itself as a global "brand." People
around the world think of it as America's number one network for news,
not always aware of the existence of lookalike ABCNBCBS. CNN went from
a fledgling operation to a multi-channel news machine, available in
airports, hotel rooms and now on cell phones. As CNN started to go
global, people all over the world began to think of CNN as the real
Voice of America.?
?CNN At 20: From Chicken Noodle Network To Global Media Power? by Danny Schechter
http://www.alternet.org/story/9282/
Quote from Ted Turner:
?In the 1970s, I became convinced that a 24-hour all-news network
could make money, and perhaps even change the world. But when I
invited two large media corporations to invest in the launch of CNN,
they turned me down. I couldn't believe it? When no one would go in
with me, I risked my personal wealth to start CNN. Soon after our
launch in 1980, our expenses were twice what we had expected and
revenues half what we had projected. Our losses were so high that our
loans were called in. I refinanced at 18 percent interest, up from 9,
and stayed just a step ahead of the bankers. Eventually, we not only
became profitable, but also changed the nature of news--from watching
something that happened to watching it as it happened.?
?My Beef with Big Media? by Ted Turner (Founder of CNN)
http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/features/2004/0407.turner.html
------------------------
DIET COKE:
People inside Coca Cola disagreed that it will be a success and even
protested that the name ?Coke? be dragged with the new product.
?In 1982, many people inside Coca-Cola scoffed at the man who dared
suggest a diet variant. You were not supposed to tamper with the
sacred formula, they said. Call it anything, but for heaven's sake,
don't call it Coca-Cola. He did. They rolled it out. The world guzzled
it. And today, Diet Coke is the world's number three soft-drink,
closely trailing regular Pepsi which itself trails Coca-Cola Classic.?
IF PROCRASTINATION WAS A CRIME, MIDDLE MANAGERS WILL BE SERVING TIME?
by Angelo Fernando
http://www.angelofernando.com/procrastination.htm
?With an up and coming newcomer, Pepsi, boasting strong sales for 7-Up
and rolling out caffeine-free sodas, the move had Coke supporters
doubting the company could pull it off.?
"?If they adulterate the name of Coke, they have lost their minds,"
said a member of Coke's bottling committee to The Wall Street Journal.
?"
?Diet Coke was an instant smash. By Christmas of 1982, it had become
the third most-popular soda in New York City, trailing only Coke and
Pepsi in sales. Giddy and stunned Coke execs told Wall Street that
Diet Coke was on track to become the second most popular beverage in
the company's history after six months on the market, despite only
being available in a third of all U.S homes.?
?THE CULT OF DIET COKE? by Eric Gillin
http://www.blacktable.com/gillin040317.htm
-----------------------
DISNEYLAND:
Skeptics think that this will only be a dream or a play thing for Walt
Disney and not a real business.
?Although, Disneyland was expensive. Walt once said ?I could never
convince the financiers that Disneyland was feasible, because dreams
offer too little collateral.??
?Disneyland's History? from JustDisney.com
http://www.justdisney.com/disneyland/history.html
?Roy worried that Walt didn't know anything about amusement parks, and
that, if the park failed, the studio would face serious financial
strain. Roy also feared shareholders wouldn't go along with such a
farfetched idea as an amusement park.?
??Walt Disney was stepping outside his field in the 1950s when he
decided to build Disneyland,??
?"Even though he had created a reputation as a filmmaker, he had no
track record building amusement parks. And, since amusement parks did
not have a very good reputation in those days, many people wondered
why Walt was getting involved in this new field.?
?Financing the Dream Called Disneyland? by Jeffrey M. Seidel
http://www.savedisney.com/news/essays/js022604.1.asp
------------------------
XEROX:
?Chester Carlson, a patent attorney and part-time inventor, made the
first xerographic image in his makeshift laboratory in Astoria,
Queens, in New York City, on Oct. 22, 1938. He spent years trying to
sell his invention without success. Business executives and
entrepreneurs didn?t believe there was a market for a copier when
carbon paper worked just fine. And the prototype for the copier was
unwieldy and messy. Some 20 companies, IBM and General Electric among
them, met his invention with what Carlson called ?an enthusiastic lack
of interest.??
?Leading The Way In Digital Document Technology and Services? from
Montgomery Research
http://www.crmproject.com/documents.asp?d_ID=2902
------------------------
WAL-MART Strategies:
?So many observers pummeled Wal-Mart about its foray in 1988 into the
European-style one-stop shopping format--Hypermarket USA--which was
the very experiment that preceded its now vital supercenter strategy.?
?So many observers scoffed at the notion of a "vendor store" as they
paraded through a test unit in Wisconsin in 1990, which became the
laboratory for supplier input and category dominance.?
?Letter From The Editor?
http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m3092/is_1999_Oct/ai_57578886
------------------------
Superman Comic Book:
After being rejected by different pulications, DC picked up this comic
book superhero and built a successful business with it.
?Once again the two would go out and try to sell Superman. But the new
version got rejected again and again. One editor who rejected some of
Siegels earlier work told him ?What you got to do kid, is come up with
a comic strip that is absolutely sensational.? Upon seeing 4 weeks of
Superman strips the same editor shook his head and replied ?The
trouble with this kid, is that it's too sensational. Nobody would
believe it.??
?Bell Syndicate told them, ?We are in the market only for strips
likely to have the most extra-ordinary appeal, and we do not feel
Superman gets into this category.?"
?Jerry Siegel, Joe Shuster, and Superman?
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/8580/super.html
?Then came four tough years of trying to sell their inspiration to the
newspaper syndicates, the then-big time for comics. They were
repeatedly rejected. Current Superman writer Roger Stern has been
researching the history of the newspaper version of Superman for the
introduction to a collection of the strips. ?Jerry saved a lot of his
old correspondence with the syndicates that turned down Superman,? he
said. ?This is from an editor at United Features: 'It's an immature
piece of work, attractive because of its freshness and naiveté, but
this is likely to wear off after the feature runs for a while.' "
?Superman Co-Creator Jerry Siegel Dies?
http://theages.superman.ws/Creators/wizard.php
Search terms used:
?Passion of the Christ? CNN ?Diet Coke? Wal-Mart Disneyland Xerox
Superman ?Jerry Siegel? history ?observers scoffed at?
I hope these links would help you in your research. Before rating this
answer, please ask for a clarification if you have a question or if
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Easterangel-ga
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