Wouldn't it be great to have a crystal ball? Some way to see into the future and learn if you just made a genius decision or a big mistake?
The folks on this list sure could have used that.
The tech industry is filled with stories of people striking it rich.
Nolan Bushnell could have owned one-third of Apple
Atari founder Nolan Bushnell turned down the opportunity to invest $50,000 in seed money in Apple. At Atari, Bushnell was one of Steve Jobs' first bosses.
Had Bushnell said yes, he would have owned a third of Apple, a company that is today valued at about $480 billion.
Ronald Wayne could be worth $40 billion today
Ronald Wayne, Apple's third co-founder, sold his 10% stake in Apple for $800 two weeks after launch. He later got $1,500 for renouncing all claims to ownership.
If he had kept it, it would be worth about $40 billion today.
HP execs said no to Woz five times
Back in the 1970s Steve Wozniak worked for Hewlett-Packard designing engineering calculators. In his spare time, he created a PC that would later become the Apple 1 computer.
Five times, Woz begged the executives at HP, led by then-CEO John Young, to manufacture his PC. They said no. So he left HP to start a company called Apple with his buddy Steve Jobs.
See the rest of the story at Business Insider