The Top 10 Worst Business Decisions (and the Analysts Who Warned Against Them)

From Blockbuster rejecting Netflix to Kodak burying its own invention, we’re breaking down the worst corporate blunders of all time—and the critical role analysis played (or should have played).

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• How these decisions derailed once-dominant companies.
• Key lessons to help you avoid similar pitfalls.
• Why bold communication and foresight are the analyst’s best tools.

🎧 Tune in now and discover how to spot (and stop) the next big business blunder before it happens!

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Picture this a business analyst hands over a report screaming
Don't do this, but the CEO hits ignore faster than a spam call.
What happens next? Disaster.
Let's explore the top ten business blunders where business

(00:21):
analysts could have saved the day.
The Better Business Analysis Institute presence, the Better
Business Analysis podcast with Kingman Walsh.
Welcome back to the Better Business Analysis podcast with
your host Benjamin Walsh. And this week on our BA Bytes

(00:43):
series, we are going to dive into the 10 worst business
decisions that maybe ABA could have.
And #1 is that Blockbuster declines to buy Netflix in year
2000. That's right, Blockbuster

(01:04):
actually laughed Netflix out of the room when offered a $50
million buyer. The consequence is that Netflix
is worth hundreds of billions ofdollars, while Blockbuster only
has one store left. Now in the analyst world, there

(01:31):
was likely a forecast that streaming was becoming a
disruptive trend and that video and hard kind of DVD sending
out, checking and going to a store was going to be affected
by this. And that was not communicated or

(01:55):
communicated effectively or taken on board by the directors.
The CEO focused on short term cash flow from DVD rentals and
didn't looked. When your analysts reveal a
seismic industry shift, don't just drop a report on the desk.

(02:16):
Make it impossible to ignore. Use product types, visual data,
whatever it takes, and get a seat at the table with the CEO
#2. Kodak clings to film in the
light late 1990s, despite reventing the digital camera

(02:37):
like they invented the digital camera and reinventing, I guess
having a camera of some description.
Kodak buried it, feared it wouldcapitalize their film business.
Digital photography exploded as they knew because they developed
the first camera. But this left Kodak bankrupt.

(02:59):
By 2012. The analysts and the market
analysts presented data on digital trends, but Kodak
couldn't counter the fear of change.
The lesson here is that innovation often requires
cannibalizing your own products before someone else.

(03:23):
Analysts help your leaders understand that playing it safe
can sometimes be the most risky move #3 and a favorite of mine.
After reading this in a Malcolm Gladwell book, I believe the New
Coke formula launched in 1985. Coke released and actually

(03:48):
reformulated its classic soda, sparking public outrage.
And this was in competition to Pepsi when Michael Jackson was
the spokesperson and they read the market wrong.
And actually, if you can read Malcolm Gladwell books, I can't
remember which one, it may be the tipping point may be
persuasion, but it's got it talks about the story.

(04:11):
So I won't spoil it for you. But Coke reverse course wasting
millions, right? They, they, they, they, they
wasted millions. But they then salvage brand
loyalty. Luckily, analysts like us
promoted that. Consumer testing showed that new

(04:31):
Cokes had a peel, but they missed a couple of things.
They missed that in the long term people didn't like Coke's
new flavour, as in they wouldn'tlike to drink as much of it,
which is really important, And they also missed the emotional

(04:51):
connection to the classic taste.The lesson here is that data
isn't everything. Context matters, and the amount
of data we collect matters. Analysts must factor in brand
loyalty and sentiment and context and length of time when
doing product testing #4 Microsoft's Zune.

(05:18):
I think I had one of these in 2006.
That's right. Microsoft launched the Zune to
compete with the iPod. It was light, it was clunky, and
it was overpriced. There were billions lost.
Apple dominated the music playermarket.
Still does kind of in some ways today, apart from Spotify really

(05:39):
coming in. And again, that's some lessons
for Apple. The analyst role underestimated
Apple's brand, its ecosystem andits loyalty.
It committed to those who were into music and were quite
different. They were the ones, the artists,
the ones who were setting the trends were buying Apple

(06:01):
products. And so this was an actual
transition. And it kind of tipped over to
mass market, whereas Microsoft was not known for music.
So you need to know your competitors.
That's the lesson analysts must emphasize market position and
timing as much as much as product specs.
We get that sometimes with Xbox versus PlayStation #5 Yahoo

(06:30):
declines Google's buy it in 2002.
That's right. Yahoo passed on buying Google
for $1 billion only to see it dominate search and online ads.
Yahoo is just a shell of its former S It kind of has some

(06:51):
kind of news financial use that it kind of looks after and a few
kind of sub brands, but it's really not what we use today.
Now, what people failed to do, what the analysts failed to do,
or the at least the management team being presented with this
information failed to do, was quantify Google's potential

(07:13):
impact on advertising. They were in advertising, OK,
They were search and advertisingand a better search.
They also knew how to leverage that to advertise.
The lesson here is when a decision involves the future,
analysts need to paint bold, detailed scenarios like what if

(07:34):
scenario, not just spreadsheets and numbers.
Forecast number six, Toys-R-Us hands online sales to Amazon In
2000, Toys-R-Us outsourced online sales to Amazon instead

(07:55):
of buying its own platform. So what happened was that Amazon
took over the toy market and Toys-R-Us R Us went background.
Sounds like a channel situation that could have kind of instead
of a competition, they decided to use it as a channel, but they
didn't really think too much about what they could mean from

(08:17):
a competition point of view. There was some, I guessed, risks
that were identified and they weren't mitigated.
And that was they underestimatedAmazon's ambitions.
It had grown quickly. Why did they think, for example,
that Amazon wouldn't just buy out the market?
The lesson here is always assesspartnerships for long term

(08:41):
impact. A partnership, just like a
marriage, is supposed to be for the long term.
So you need to think about that.Analysts should push for
foresight, not just cost savingsor another channel.
It's a real harsh lesson to be learned and a dangerous one that
I think I can see other players in the market falling into right
now #7 is that Decker Records rejected The Beatles in 1962.

(09:10):
Loved The Beatles. Decker passed on signing The
Beatles claiming guitar groups are on the way out.
The Beatles became the best selling band in history on a
rival label which I believe was called Apple.
Analyst Failed to predict youth trends and cultural shifts that

(09:32):
were happening all around town. There were already artists that
were moving into the space, bringing rock'n'roll from kind
of African American influences into the modern kind of white
general demographic. It was already happening.
The lesson here is don't rely solely on historical data, OK?

(09:54):
What everyone else was doing, You know, the pale white singing
before The Beatles turned up. Analysts must balance it with
intuition about emerging trends,and I would say this one around
guitar bands being out was a real bad call.
Number 8 is that shares failed to adapt to e-commerce and this

(10:16):
is in the 90s leading to the 2000.
So Sears are stuck to its catalogue model, sending out
catalogues to homes in the US. Instead of embracing online
shopping or e-commerce, Amazon ate its lunch and says failed
into and just fell into irrelevance.

(10:39):
Now, analysts likely pointed to e-commerce growth.
It was happening. Amazon was there, but it wasn't
just Amazon. But couldn't really overcome the
kind of leadership inertia or inertia to do nothing.