After spending years around investors and business leaders I’ve come to realize that someone else’s failure is usually attributed to bad decisions, w… - Morgan Housel

Here’s the most important part of this story: The Russell 3000 has increased more than 73-fold since 1980. That is a spectacular return. That is success. Forty percent of the companies in the index were effectively failures. But the 7% of components that performed extremely well were more than enough to offset the duds.

If something compounds — if a little growth serves as the fuel for future growth — a small starting base can lead to results so extraordinary they seem to defy logic. It can be so logic-defying that you underestimate what’s possible, where growth comes from, and what it can lead to.

The line between “inspiringly bold” and “foolishly reckless” can be a millimeter thick and only visible with hindsight.