Famous Flops
This Apple co-founder was pushed out of his own company in 1985, then returned years later to lead it to its biggest successes.
Who is Steve Jobs?
This short-form video app, now a global giant, grew from the ashes of a failed educational-video app called Musical.ly's predecessor.
What is TikTok?
Cut from teams and doubted early, this gymnast withdrew from events at the Tokyo Olympics to protect her mental health, then returned to win big in Paris 2024.
Who is Simone Biles?
Adding this three-letter word to "I can't do it" turns a dead end into a work in progress.
What is "yet"?
This term describes the belief that abilities can grow with effort, practice, and learning.
What is a growth mindset?
Cut from his high school varsity basketball team as a sophomore, he became arguably the greatest player ever.
Who is Michael Jordan?
Before this streaming service dominated, it nearly went bankrupt and reportedly tried to sell itself to Blockbuster, who laughed them off.
What is Netflix?
This swimmer overcame a serious ADHD diagnosis as a kid and personal struggles to become the most decorated Olympian of all time.
Who is Michael Phelps?
This artist was a backup dancer and faced label rejection before becoming a Grammy-winning, record-breaking global superstar known for reinvention.
Who is Beyoncé?
The opposite belief: that talent and intelligence are fixed and can't really change.
What is a fixed mindset?
This singer was told her beauty line was a risk, but launched it in 2017 with 40 foundation shades and became a self-made billionaire.
Who is Rihanna?
This vacuum and hand-dryer inventor built over 5,000 failed prototypes before his bagless design took off.
Who is James Dyson?
Rejected over 1,000 times pitching his chicken recipe, he found fast-food fame in his 60s.
Who is Colonel Sanders?
This 'man of steel' superhero comic was rejected by many publishers before launching in 1938.
Who is Superman?
This Stanford psychologist's research introduced growth vs. fixed mindset in her book "Mindset."
Who is Carol Dweck?
This Australian co-founder heard "no" from investors over 100 times before her design platform, Canva, grew into a company worth tens of billions.
Who is Melanie Perkins?
This wildly popular sandbox video game was built by a solo Swedish developer releasing rough public versions until it took off.
What is Minecraft?
This boxer-turned-entrepreneur and this tennis champion both spoke openly about losses and injuries before historic comebacks — name either the tennis star with 23 Grand Slam titles.
Who is Serena Williams?
This "Hamilton" creator spent years writing and revising before his musical reshaped Broadway.
Who is Lin-Manuel Miranda?
This is the ability to bounce back and keep going after setbacks or hardship.
What is resilience?
This Spanx founder was turned down by every hosiery mill she approached and became, at the time, the youngest self-made female billionaire.
Who is Sara Blakely?
This plant-based "bleeding" burger took years of failed recipes before landing in fast-food chains nationwide.
What is the Impossible Burger?
Early teachers underestimated him, but he later developed the theory of relativity.
Who is Albert Einstein?
This Korean group was from a small company and nearly disbanded due to low early sales before becoming the biggest band in the world.
Who is BTS?
This branch of neuroscience explains how the brain physically rewires and strengthens when challenged.
What is neuroplasticity?