How not to ruin an opportunity, Bad missed biz dev opportunities,

One of the great misses in history is the one of Kenneth H. Olsen, president of Digital Equipment Corporation. DEC identified a demand for more affordable and high-performing computing systems that could be used in scientific research and other technological settings. DEC introduced a mid-range computing solution, the minicomputer, at a time when the alternative was too bulky and costly for most people. In 1977 Kenneth H. Olsen announced that “There is no reason for any individual to have a computer in their home.” Ken Olsen made this statement in 1977. It now seems folly, although many people would probably have agreed with him at the time, especially those working with large mainframe computers as Olsen and DEC were. DEC was a pioneering computing company in the 1970s and 80s. The explosion in the personal computer market was was within the range of possibilities that industry experts were discussing at the time still missed by DEC

There are few corporate blunders as staggering as Kodak’s missed opportunities in digital photography, a technology that it invented. 

For nearly a century, no company commercialized the camera as successfully as Kodak, whose breakthroughs included low-cost photography, one of the first successful color material- Kodachrome, and the easy-load Instamatic camera. Kodak even reached a 90% market share of photographic film sales in the United States.  In 1975, Steven Sasson, an engineer working for Kodak, invented the first self-contained digital camera. Sasson envisioned a future in which a camera doesn’t have mechanical moving parts. Kodak's corporate response to his creation was "it is a filmless photography, that’s cute, but don’t tell anyone about it."  Kodak, a company that revolutionized the world of cameras and photography, missed a huge opportunity. The opportunity to go digital (first) and lead this world. This strategic failure was the direct cause of Kodak’s decades-long decline as digital photography destroyed its film-based business model. The Company's inability to recognize digital photography as a disruptive technology for decades paved the way for its bankruptcy. In January 2012, Kodak filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

This was probably one of the highest prices ever paid due to a missed opportunity…