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> Most of the success stories here are businesses with modest ambitions under the tight control of a single family.

Companies that aren’t afraid to really shift gears whenever necessary also do well. Take Nintendo - founded in 1889 as a playing card company that later became an overly ambitious toy company…

During that era they also invented that classic scissors-mechanism extendable hand (“Ultra Hand”). That was a bestseller for years before the NES.



Nokia, a famous logging and paper company, is also a great example.




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