"A Case Study in Corporate Fear" deconstructs how fear transforms successful companies into corporate casualties. Each episode forensically examines a different business failure, revealing how fear infiltrates decision-making and sabotages success. From Kodak's digital denial to Blockbuster's streaming stumble, we analyze the patterns of fear that destroy companies and careers. Join host Taras Wayner as we turn fear into your greatest teacher, helping you recognize and overcome the paralysis of professional fear. Whether you're a CEO or a rising professional, this podcast delivers actionable insights to help you lead with courage and learn how others failed so you never do. Visit fear-incorporated.com for additional resources and training opportunities.
Send us a text How did Boeing transform from an engineering powerhouse willing to bet the company on revolutionary aircraft into one where engineers feared speaking up about safety concerns? This episode examines the 25-year cultural shift following the McDonnell Douglas merger that led to the 737 MAX crashes, killing 346 people. From Bill Allen's audacious 707 and 747 programs to the geographic separation of executives from engineers, we trace the decisions prioritizing speed and cost over t...
3 Sept 2025
How Jaguar Finally Outran Fear
Send us a text While many have called Jaguar's rebrand "the worst marketing decision they'd ever seen" and declared it "brand suicide," it just may be Jaguar's bravest business decision in decades. In this episode of "A Case Study in Corporate Fear," host Taras Wayner examines how a brand that once epitomized independence became trapped in automotive purgatory with zero profitability and a rapidly aging customer base. And how, for over fifty years, Jaguar consistently chose fear over courage ...
7 Aug 2025
NEW COKE – When The Fizz Goes Flat
Send us a text After 99 years of guarding their secret formula, Coca-Cola made the boldest move in consumer goods history. When Pepsi's taste tests revealed that consumers preferred their sweeter formula 57% of the time, Coca-Cola panicked and took the unthinkable step – they altered their sacred recipe. In this episode of "A Case Study in Corporate Fear," host Taras Wayner examines how fear transformed the world's most successful beverage company into the architect of its near destruction. F...
11 Jul 2025
ATARI – Game Over
Send us a text How did Atari go from a $250 startup to controlling 80% of the video game market, only to collapse in one of corporate history's most spectacular failures? In this episode of "A Case Study in Corporate Fear," host Taras Wayner explores the company that invented the modern gaming industry – and how paralyzing fear destroyed it all. Journey back to 1972 Sunnyvale, where Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney created Pong in a converted roller rink, establishing a revolutionary culture whe...
12 Jun 2025
TOWER RECORDS – It's The End Of The World As We Know It.
This episode explores how Tower Records, a once-dominant cultural force with over 200 locations and a billion dollars in revenue, ultimately faced its demise.
22 May 2025
YAHOO! And Why We No Longer YAHOO!
Send us a text In this episode, we examine the rise and fall of internet pioneer Yahoo through the lens of Brad Garlinghouse's explosive internal memo, which would become known as the "Peanut Butter Manifesto." From Yahoo's origins as "Jerry and David's Guide to the World Wide Web" to its peak valuation of $125 billion, and finally to its sale to Verizon for just 3.6% of that value, we examine how Garlinghouse's prescient warnings about Yahoo's fear of strategic commitment—spreading resources...
28 Apr 2025
Blackberry - The Tyranny of Success
How did BlackBerry – the company that revolutionized mobile communication with always-on email and iconic keyboards – collapse from 50% market share to irrelevance in a decade? In this episode, I examine how fear transformed smart executives into prisoners of their past success, rendering them unable to evolve even as customers lined up for iPhones. Timeline: · 1999: Research In Motion introduces the first BlackBerry device · 2006: BlackBerr...
26 Mar 2025
SONY Walkman and The Day The Music Died
How did Sony—the company that revolutionized portable music with the Walkman—lose its market dominance to Apple, a computer company with no prior experience in the music industry? In this episode, I examine how fear transformed Sony's innovative culture into siloed kingdoms that sabotaged their own digital music future. Timeline: · 1979: Sony launches the Walkman, selling over 100 million units worldwide · 1999: Sony engineers develop a work...
6 Mar 2025
BLOCKBUSTER – Brought to you by Fear
This episode of "A Case Study in Fear" examines how Blockbuster became a victim of its own market dominance. Host Taras Wayner investigates how the video rental giant went from revolutionizing home entertainment with 9,000 stores worldwide to filing for bankruptcy, all because of one powerful emotion: fear. Discover how Blockbuster executives laughed Netflix's Reed Hastings out of the room when offered to buy the startup for $50 million, denied the digital streaming revolution, and desperatel...
8 Feb 2025
KODAK – Brought to you by Fear
"A Case Study in Fear" uncovers how Kodak became a casualty of its own success. Host Taras Wayner explores how the photography giant went from democratizing photography to filing for bankruptcy, all because of one powerful emotion: fear. Discover how Kodak's executives buried their own revolutionary invention (the digital camera), denied the digital revolution, and clung to their film business until it was too late. This episode reveals how fear transformed a $31 billion innovation powerhouse...
Reach and audience
Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.
Apple Podcasts (US)
5.0 / 5
8 ratings
Podcast Authority Score: 14 / 100
A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.
Quality
14
Social presence
0
YouTube
0
Engagement
32
Contact A Case Study In Fear
Guest appearances
Does not typically book guests
Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.
Host of A Case Study In Fear?
Claim your podcast to manage its listing and keep your show details accurate.
Pod Engine is an independent podcast discovery and analytics service and is not affiliated with or endorsed by this podcast. Artwork and show content belong to their owners. Full legal notice.
Explore this show Podcast research with Pod Engine
