The book lists the most common mistakes made by entrepreneurs that cause ventures to fail. This is an example of one mistake that even large corporations make. here, ford made a very costly mistake when it tried introducing a new line of cars at the wrong time.

1. Startups and Entrepreneurs

3. Mistake made by Ford: The wrong idea at
the wrong time
The Edsel
Ford’s concept for beating GM and Chrysler
A new line of sophisticated and technologically
advanced cars under the ‘Edsel’ umbrella:
You could shift gears by pushing buttons on the
steering wheel.

4. The right idea when the study was done
Ford executives promoted the concept by
saying Edsel models styling and specifications
were the result of sophisticated market
analysis and research and development efforts

5. The right idea
Ford told the industry press that market
research showed there would be great
demand for Edsel vehicle.
During pre-introduction publicity campaign,
Ford promoted the Edsel as an "entirely new
kind of car“.

7. Intended to be totally new, sophisticated and
technologically advanced

8. INSTEAD

9. The Edsel line produced 4 models:
With engineering and bodywork similar to other Ford
models.
And the similarities were obvious

10. AND

11. The Edsel ran from 1958 to 1960
116,000 Edsels were sold, less than half Ford's
break-even point.
Ford lost $350 million, or the equivalent of
$2.8 million in 2014 dollars

12. Edsel became a symbol for failure.
Even a pretty woman in a bathing suit couldn’t save it

13. Edsel: The wrong car at the wrong time.

14. In 1958
Consumers were looking for smaller, lower
priced cars
The Edsel was large and expensive

15. Demand for large cars returned in 1965
Unfortunately, the Edsel was long gone by then.

16. Mechanical problems in the early cars
Market shift toward smaller cars
General economic downturn just as the
models were hitting showrooms

17. Combined

18. To make the
Edsel
The wrong idea at the wrong time

19. For the most common mistakes made by
startups and entrepreneurs:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00LCLR3O2/
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