The dumbest business decision I ever made was not actually a business decision. And, it wasn’t my decision. It was my mother’s. When I was about 15, she tossed out my baseball card collection as part of an ill-advised campaign to rid the house of “clutter.” Little did she suspect that that “clutter” would be worth tens of thousands of dollars one day.

It took a while but I found it in my heart to forgive mom. Besides, her decision wasn’t nearly as foolish as some of these beauties. The quotes at the top are fictional; I made them up to give the story some flow. But the business decisions they describe are all too real.

1. “These Guys Will Never Make It” (Dec. 1961)

Made By: Mike Smith and Dick Rowe, executives in charge of evaluating new talent for Decca Records, after travelling to scout a local rock ‘n’ roll band in Liverpool, England. The band’s name: The Beatles. The famous line Rowe supposedly uttered to the band’s manager: “Not to mince words, Mr. Epstein, but we don’t like your boys’ sound.”

2. “We Don’t Want Our Product Associated with Your Movie” (1981)

Made By: The candy manufacturer, Mars. The director of an upcoming film called E.T. The Extra Terrestrial wanted to use M&Ms in a scene where the little boy lays out a trail of candy to lure the alien. Company officials balked, fearing that the image of an alien scarfing down M&Ms would send the wrong message about its product. So the director, a gentleman by the name of Stephen Spielberg, offered the gig to rival product, Reese’s Pieces. The rest, as they say, is history. E.T. would go on to break box office records. The tie-in with Reese’s Pieces as “E.T.’s favorite candy” tripled sales instantly, generated tens of millions of dollars worth of free publicity for the product and gave birth to the product placement business.

3. “That Toy Has No Commercial Potential” (1876)

Made By: Executives of telegraph monopolist Western Union. The company with $41 million in working capital declined to pay an outrageous $100,000 for a patent on a new communication technology invented by a 29-year-old named Alexander Graham Bell. “Mr. Bell,” a company official wrote in passing on the telephone, “while your invention is a very interesting novelty, we have come to the conclusion that it has no commercial possibilities.” What use, the letter asked, could Western Union have for “an electrical toy?”

4. “$15 Million—Take It Or Leave It” (1979)

Made By: Ross Perot in refusing to meet the $40 to $60 million asking price for a new software company developed by an entrepreneur named Bill Gates. Perot walked away from the table empty-handed and Microsoft would grow to a company worth hundreds of billions of dollars.

5. “People Won’t Like This Show” (1984)

Made By: Executives of ABC-TV in refusing to buy the rights to a sitcom created by the comedian Bill Cosby. “Viewers wouldn’t watch an unrealistic portrayal of blacks as wealthy, well educated professionals,” were the remarks attributed to ABC officials. So Cosby sold his show to NBC and The Cosby Show became the #1 show in America for four straight years and, over its eight-year run, lifted the network from third to first place.

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