Perhaps you’ve watched Bitcoin prices go up and are debating whether to buy Bitcoin–or whether to buy more Bitcoin. While you ponder, we’d like to present these missed money-making opportunities to make your decision easier….
Opportunity: Buying the Patent to the Telephone
Missed by: William Orton, the 1876 president of Western Union Telegraph
Western Union Telegraph had the chance to buy Alexander Graham Bell’s telephone patent for $100,000 to which William Orton replied: “What use could this company make of an electrical toy?” In Orton’s mind, telephones were pointless with telegraphs around.
But Orton realized his mistake soon enough. Two years later he worked with inventors Elisha Gray and Thomas Edison to produce their version of the telephone, which prompted Bell to sue.
Bell won, and the telephone went on to usurp the telegraph, eventually morphing into the gotta-have-it item we all carry in our pockets today.
Opportunity: Signing The Beatles
Missed By: Decca Records
The Beatles auditioned for Decca Records, who passed on them. The oft-repeated story goes that talent-spotter Dick Rowe turned them down by saying, “Guitar groups are on their way out.” For his part, Rowe went to the grave denying he said the words.
However, one part of the story is uncontested. Decca decided they could only take on one of two groups who recently auditioned. They opted for Brian Poole and the Tremeloes over the Beatles. Who are Brian Poole and the Tremeloes?
Exactly.
Opportunity: Acquiring Google Stock Before Its IPO
Missed By: Trader/investor James Altucher of 212 Ventures
Around 2001, James Altucher was approached by a company that made “some kind of software for search engines,” who offered him 20% of the company in exchange for $1 million. Altucher reply: “Search engines? Aren’t they all dead?” So, he declined the offer without reservation.
In 2003, Google purchased that same company, partly with Google stock options, and rebranded it AdSense. When Google went public in 2004, it was valued at $23 billion, and its shares cost between $108-135. These days, Google’s parent company, Alphabet, is one of only a handful of companies worth more than $1 trillion.
And the stock they bestowed on the company Altucher could have been part owner of? It’s now worth $1.5 billion. Altucher later called passing on this opportunity “the worst decision in venture capital history.”
Opportunity: Buying Amazon Stock When It First Went Public
Missed By: Anyone who didn’t buy Amazon when it was cheap (i.e., most of the world)
When Amazon went public in 1997, its IPO price was $18/per share–or $1.50 if adjusted for later stock splits. At the time, the company was known as an online bookseller with little indication it would become a money-making behemoth.
Of course, that bookseller became the biggest online retailer in the world, and its CEO, Jeff Bezos, is the second richest person in the world, only recently unseated as the richest by Elon Musk.
So in 1997, if you purchased one Amazon stock instead of lunch out, you’d be roughly $3,000 richer today.
Opportunity: Buying Bitcoin
Missed By: Hopefully, not you.
Bitcoin was worth $.08 per Bitcoin when it was first traded in 2010. As of writing this, its value is $34,000 per Bitcoin. In January 2020, it was worth $7,150. In just one year’s time, it has roughly quintupled in value, making it one of the best money-making opportunities of the 2020.
Its appreciation rate is far swifter than anything Amazon experienced, and there are some big predictions on the table for 2021. So, what are you waiting for?