Jail, Bankruptcy, then Cup of Noodles: The Incredible Comeback of Momofuku Ando

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In 1948, Momofuku Ando was a middle-aged entrepreneur who had just been released from jail.

He wasn’t a criminal in the traditional sense; the Japanese government accused him of tax evasion while he ran a small company. He always denied it. But by the time he got out, he was broke, disgraced, and almost 50.

He could have quit.

Instead, he started over.

The Spark

Japan was recovering from World War II. And one day, Ando noticed long lines of people waiting in the cold for a bowl of fresh ramen.

Bingo! That was it. His breakthrough idea: What if anyone could make a cheap hot bowl of noodles, anytime, anywhere - instantly?

But no one believed it was possible.

Except that one person did, the most important person: He did.

Momofuku Ando had no background in food science. No lab. No team. Just a shack behind his house where he started to test thousands of combinations of noodles, soup bases, and oils. Every night for a year, he went to bed with his clothes covered in flour.

Then one night, it clicked.

He flash-fried the noodles and discovered they could be preserved and rehydrated in minutes.

Hello TOP Ramen!

An Even Bigger Pivot?

Inventing Top Ramen would be enough for most people. But apparently not for Ando.

At age 61, while flying to America, he noticed passengers struggling to eat a cup of noodles in a bowl with chopsticks.

When he got back to Japan, he redesigned his product to fit in a foam cup, and voila! No bowl needed. He added seasoning to the bottom, prepped it for boiling water, and put a peel-back lid on top.

That pivot turned his invention into a global staple:

Hello Cup of Noodles!

Not bad for a man who started his life’s work at 48.

Legacy

Momofuku Ando died at 96, and ate instant ramen every day. His company, Nissin Foods, now sells over 100 billion servings annually.

The Takeaway

The right idea at the right time can change everything. But what makes it work is not the idea, it’s the man or woman who won’t stop until it works.

Late is just a story.

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About Steve

Steve Strauss is the best-selling author of The Small Business Bible (and 17 other books), Inc.’s small business columnist, a lawyer (non-practicing), and an entrepreneur. He sold his last venture, TheSelfEmployed.com to Mark Cuban & Zen Business. Need a ghostwriter or a newsletter for your business? Contact Steve!