Company founding stories are almost always non-malicious lies.

Sam was already 44(!) when he opened the first Walmart and had been running his own retail stores for over 15 years.

Like most overnight successes, it was about 20 years in the making.

I’ve always thought of problems as challenges, and this one wasn’t any different… I had to pick myself up and get on with it, do it all over again, only even better this time.

Sam said “it didn’t matter much because I had big plans.”

The lesson here is that there will be mistakes and problems on any path to success. As a recent book title says, those obstacles are the way itself.

less afraid of being wrong than anyone I’ve ever known…Once he sees he’s wrong, he just shakes it off and heads in another direction.

You think “oh I need a great idea” when the reality is the idea is nothing and your psychology & persistence is everything.

Even the great Sam Walton couldn’t find investors to start the 1st Walmart, on the back of a near-perfect record in retail.

If you want to learn from entrepreneurs, look at the start not the finish.