Next week is the 45th anniversary of Disco Demolition Night, a MLB promotion that ended in a riot. A crate filled with disco records was blown up on the field after a Chicago White Sox & Detroit Tigers game. Failure Museum

I’ve written a lot about my Failure Museum, but I don’t often get to share it in real life. Thanks Ben Cohen for the Failure Museum conversation that’s taught me more about failure, success, risk-taking, and resilience. wsj.com/business/entre… Norwest

In 2006, ESPN burned through $150M, including $30M on a Super Bowl ad, for its mobile phone so sports nuts could receive score updates and browse ESPN.com content. Failure Museum

Had so much fun photographing the Failure Museum for the The Wall Street Journal. It’s been a blast to see the items I’ve collected over the years have a spotlight outside of my office. Read the full discussion I had with Ben Cohen : lnkd.in/gc-CjgSH

Launched in 1983 and discontinued in 1985, the Coleco Adam computer was heavily criticized upon launch for numerous defects in early units. About 60 percent of Adam owners returned their units because of the defects leading to Coleco filing for bankruptcy. Failure Museum

Super fun sharing my Failure Museum story in Israel. Read the article in Globes גלובס: globes.co.il/news/article.a… Nice seeing my cousin, Jed, getting photo credit.

Launched in 1998 and discontinued in 2002, HP Jornada was HP's personal digital assistant. It had several product issues leading to multiple recalls, while it wasn't as popular as other hand held devices. Failure Museum

In 1995, the Los Angeles Dodgers had a promotion where it gave out 15K baseballs. Fans didn’t like some calls from the umpires leading to the field being flooded with baseballs and the game being forfeited. MLB Failure Museum

It was an Android device pre-loaded with Facebook's own user interface layer. Panned by critics for its poor camera, lack of removable storage, and underwhelming reception of the Facebook Home software.  TIME named it one of the biggest 2013 failures. Failure Museum HTC

In 2001, Disney its Go.com search portal and took more than $800M in charges. Because its content and services were inferior, it couldn't attract enough consumers to compete against Yahoo, AOL.com, Microsoft, and Google. Failure Museum

In 2011, the HP Veer smartphone was released and discontinued. The Veer was only 3.3 inches long and 2.1 inches wide with a screen just 2.6 inches diagonally. It was ultraportable, but it was hard to watch video, work on documents, or browse the web. Failure Museum

Released in 1980 and discontinued in 1984, the Apple III was dogged by many design faults, such as chips coming out of sockets, real time clocks not working, and excessive heat problems due to over populated boards. Failure Museum

In 2006, Microsoft was unable to gain traction with Apple iPod due to poor marketing and lack of developer support. It’s difficult to disrupt competitors who are well-entrenched since their product is sticky. Failure Museum

In 2006, the Microsoft Zune was unable to gain traction versus Apple's iPod due to poor marketing and lack of developer support. Failure Museum

The Chicago White Sox had the most losses, 121, of any MLB team in history finishing the season 80 games below .500 & 51.5 games out of first. They scored the fewest runs of any team in the past 50 years & their run differential was the third worst in MLB history. Failure Museum

On September 26, 2024, the Oakland A's played the last game of the 4 major professional sports in Oakland. The A's played 56 seasons, the Golden State Warriors played 47 seasons, Las Vegas Raiders played 45 seasons, and NHL's Seals played 10 seasons. NFL, MLB, NBA Failure Museum

In 2006, the NBA tried to implement a new synthetic ball, which the players unanimously hated. The league had decided to do away with the traditional leather ball in favor of a microfiber composite one. Failure Museum

Discontinued in September 2024 and only 6 months after its release, Coca-Cola Spiced was unable to attract younger drinkers. Spiced was created to attract Gen-Z drinkers, who have a thirst for punchier flavors. Failure Museum The Coca-Cola Co.

Got to show off some of my favorite Failure Museum pieces to Harvard Business Review. They really brought these to life with old ad footage. lnkd.in/gFf56xra Coca-Cola, MATTEL, Harley-Davidson , WeWork , Blockbuster , Molson Coors Beverage Company, Harvard Business School Theranos , ESPN , Google

Happy Halloween! FTX inspired me to start the Failure Museum. It started when I received an FTX sponsored bobblehead of Jordan Poole at a Golden State Warriors game on November 14, 2022, which was 3 days after FTX filed for bankruptcy. Success spoils. Failure teaches.