1. BLOCKBUSTER (1985 – 2010)

Home movie and computer game rental services giant, Blockbuster Video, was founded in 1985 and arguably one amongst the foremost iconic brands within the video rental space. At its peak in 2004, Blockbuster employed 84,300 people worldwide and had 9,094 stores. Unable to transition towards a digital model, Blockbuster filed for bankruptcy in 2010. In 2000, Netflix approached Blockbuster with a suggestion to sell their company to Blockbuster for US$50 million. The Blockbuster CEO, wasn't inquisitive about the offer because he thought it absolutely was a "very small niche business" and it absolutely was losing money at the time. As of July 2017, Netflix had 103.95 million subscribers worldwide and a revenue of US$8.8bn.

2. POLAROID (1937 – 2001)

Founded in 1937, Polaroid is best known for its Polaroid instant film and cameras. Despite its early success in capturing a market that had few competitors, Polaroid was unable to anticipate the impact that digital cameras would wear its film business. Falling into the ‘success trap’ by exploiting only their (historically successful) business activities, Polaroid neglected the requirement to explore new territory and enhance their long-term viability.

3. TOYS R US (1948 – 2017)

Toys “R” Us may be a newer story about the financial struggle one amongst the world’s largest toy store chains. With the good thing about hindsight, Toys "R" Us may have led to its own undoing when it signed a 10-year contract to be the exclusive vendor of toys on Amazon in... (More)