What these famous failures can teach you about entrepreneurship

Warren Buffet’s application to Harvard Business School was rejected. A book by Arianna Huffington was rejected by 36 publishers. Fashion designer Vera Wang failed to make the US Olympic skating team, but went on to design for them.

Success does not come overnight. Names like Steve Jobs or Sandy Lerner bring to mind the stories of pioneering entrepreneurs, but many of the world’s most successful people had to endure setbacks, disappointments and, sometimes, complete failure before they broke through.

Below are some examples of entrepreneurs who overcame repeated failure. The numbers represent the age of the entrepreneur at the time their venture was founded (white) failed (red) or succeeded (blue).

The full interactive from Fleximize shows how many of the most successful business names in the world have overcome multiple failures.

Click image to open interactive version (via Fleximize).

Author: Donald Armbrecht is a freelance writer and social media producer.

Image: A portrait of Apple co-founder and former CEO Steve Jobs is placed on the Federation Tower skyscraper in Moscow’s new business district. REUTERS/Denis Sinyakov