Connect
To Top

Self-Made Billionaires Reveal Their Biggest Regrets And They Are Surprisingly Relatable!

We all have regrets: average Janes and Joes, celebrities, and successful businessmen. This might just be the one thing we have in common with other people from all walks of life.

Best believe that even billionaires have felt bad about something in the past they wished they could have changed as laid out by Rafael Badziag who interviewed 21 affluent people. Alas, patterns emerged, and here they are:

Missing Chances

We and Tim Draper have something in common – that is, not jumping on promising opportunities. There’s nothing scarier than taking a risk because you don’t know what the outcome will be or if you will get something out of your actions.

Of course, you can’t actually reap rewards if you don’t take a leap, more so if you don’t do it fast. For the venture capitalist, this was during the early days of social networking site Facebook.

Tim Draper wished he could have jumped on missed opportunities

At the time, the Mark Zuckerberg-founded company was valued at $20 million, but Tim’s team backed out as a result of a bidding war. Now, Facebook has become one of the most popular sites out there that has a $115-million valuation.

The same can be said of his investment attempt with Yahoo that didn’t push through. Out of these experiences, the self-made billionaire advises don’t hesitate whenever a great opportunity is there.

Starting Late

Did you know that even the successful ones feel they could have started earlier with their ventures? Hargreaves Lansdown founder Peter Hargreaves admitted he would have started his business sooner.

InfoSpace founder Naveen Jain also gave out the same answer and explained that he should have just started his company in his 20s instead of his 30s.

Naveen Jain hoped he started earlier

OSIM International founder Ron Sim highlighted the importance of jumping to opportunities now rather than later. The point is, it’s not about waiting for the perfect time, which may never arrive by the way, but it’s whether you will do it or not. Needless to say, nothing will happen if you won’t make a decision.

Living in the Past

Are you familiar with the Latin aphorism carpe diem? When roughly translated it means to seize the day. This is Lululemon founder Chip Wilson’s mantra, but it took him some time before learning to embody this.

The billionaire admitted that he used to dwell on past mistakes or worry about the future – in short, he was still living in his past and constantly bothered by what might happen. Once he changed his mindset, he became more focused on impacting the world and being a better person.

Not Being Bold

Every one of us has fears, irrational or not. As much as we want to hop on every opportunity that comes by, it’s hard to do because we feel we might fail.

In business, taking on a very big step is very risky and, chances are, you’ll immediately analyze if it could sink you in debt.

For Competitive Foods Australia founder Jack Cowin, he would have had more confidence that he could “find my way through the maze.”

Jack Cowin wished he had more self-confidence

But, that doesn’t mean taking risks in every chance you meet. He suggested partnering boldness with caution and practicing diligence at all times.

More in Rich & Famous

You must be logged in to post a comment Login