What we can learn from the death of a $70b tech giant

Photo credit: Melanie Wasser

Enron was booming.

It was widely considered one of (if not the) most innovative companies in the world, and at the time of its ruling, not a single person saw its rocket-like trajectory ending in the near future.

The 90s darling was beloved by all, especially its green-eyed shareholders who watched their investments run wild from US$20 a share in 1998 to US$90 a share in 2001.

Unfortunately, Enron’s downfall was just as hard and as fast as its rise.

‘The greatest company in the world’

In 2002, Enron had gone completely bankrupt.

The company’s CEOs Jeffrey Skilling and Kenneth Lay described their golden child with unshakeable confidence as “the greatest company in the world.”

These were bold words not unlike the iconic line in the movie Titanic, “God himself could not sink this ship!”

Their confidence and bullishness led them to look beyond what they were doing well. Enron’s grass was green in energy and gas. But, like so many companies, they grew hungry for more   and decided to jump the fence.

During the dot-com bubble, Enron gobbled up internet companies left and right and started various “ventures” that looked more like get-rich-quick schemes than actual businesses.

While aggressive, risky moves are often lauded in the world of business, Enron had spread itself thin. The public quickly learned that the company had been cooking their books in hopes of hastily patching the holes in their sinking ship.

In the matter of a year, the once US$70 billion industry titan, named by Fortune Magazine as “America’s Most Innovative Company” six years in a row, went bankrupt.

Fortunately, you and I aren’t Enron . But that doesn’t mean we can’t learn from their mistakes.

The more you want, the faster you fall

I saw it when I was first starting out on my journey to build JotForm, and I still see it today, 12 years later.

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