The biggest missed business opportunities in history

When it comes to making business decisions, there's always an element of risk. Sometimes taking risks pays off, sometimes it doesn't. Indeed, there are certain stories in the business world that involve executives kicking themselves for not taking a chance.

Check out this gallery for some of the biggest missed business opportunities ever.

MySpace and Facebook

In 2005, Mark Zuckerberg met with MySpace founder Chris DeWolfe to discuss MySpace’s acquisition of his then-fledgling social networking site.

DeWolfe reportedly turned down Zuckerberg’s US⁠$75 million ask⁠—a poor decision judging by MySpace’s subsequent demise and Facebook’s meteoric rise.

Real Network and the MP3 player

It’s very difficult to imagine listening to music on an iPod made by anyone other than Apple. Yet if it weren’t for a pivotal decision by tech company Real Network, that might be our reality.

Before Tony Fadell teamed up with Steve Jobs to create the new, sleeker MP3 product, he pitched it to his then employer, Real Network. It was only after their rejection that he turned to Steve Jobs.

Blockbuster and Netflix

At a fateful meeting in Dallas, Texas in September 2000, movie rental company Blockbuster turned down the opportunity to purchase struggling young company Netflix.

Before Netflix got into streaming and took over the world, it was a DVD-by-mail rental service, which apparently wasn’t attractive enough to former Blockbuster CEO John Antioco.

Excite and Google

In 1999, Excite was second only to Yahoo in the ranking of dot.com boom search engines. By 2001, it had filed for bankruptcy.

In a questionable decision by CEO George Bell, Excite turned down the chance to buy Google for US$750,000.

J.K. Rowling and publishers

Before 'Harry Potter' was a US$14 billion franchise, it was a pile of handwritten papers that J.K. Rowling was struggling to get published.

The first agent she approached gave her a swift "no," and, while the second took her on, it was only as a wild card shot that Bloomsbury agreed to publish.

Ross Perot and Microsoft

In 1979, a young Bill Gates offered to sell a majority shareholding in Microsoft to the business magnate and founder of Electronic Data Systems, Ross Perot.

Digital Research and IBM

Bill Gates almost missed out too, however, when he turned down the opportunity to license his operating system to IBM and instead pointed them towards Digital Research.

Xerox and the PC

In the history of computers there’s Apple, there’s Microsoft, and then there’s the lesser-known Xerox PC.

Atari and Apple

As a youngster, Steve Jobs worked as a game designer at Atari. When it came to raising capital for his new computer project, he first approached his boss, Nolan Bushnell.

Hewlett-Packard and the computer

When Steve Wozniak was working for Hewlett-Packard in the 1970s, he tried to get the company excited about his new personal computer project.

When his proposals fell on deaf ears, he turned to Steve Jobs, with whom he pursued the project from a garage.

Kodak and the digital camera

It could be said that Kodak's decline was an inside job—the digital camera technology that ruined camera film was actually the brainchild of one of the company’s employees.

Decca Records and The Beatles

When the four boys from Liverpool approached industry big dog Decca Records for a contract, they were met with a resounding "no."

Decca felt the era of guitar bands had passed, and so The Beatles signed with EMI instead.

Western Union and the telephone

When Alexander Graham Bell first sent speech via a gadget he named the telephone, he offered the patent to Western Union for US$100,000.