Lessons learned in Wild West World's closing

Posted | Contributed by Amnesiac

The story of Wild West World -- which opened about a year ago in Park City -- is equal parts Etheredge's substantial ego and a litany of business mistakes common to many entrepreneurs, according to a variety of people who were involved with the park.

Read more from The Wichita Eagle.

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matt.'s avatar
Very interesting read, thanks for posting this one.
Jeff's avatar
Well, it largely confirms what I had been saying all along, that they guy had zero concept of business. But also at fault is everyone who loaned him money. Honestly, were those investors or bankers any smarter?
"The value in failing, frankly, is in understanding why."

Very interesting reading. I'm pretty sure some of the industry folks mentioned that he hired, but didn't listen to, were old school Six Flaggers.

I doubt Etheridge learned any lessons. He's probably convinced that none of what happened was his doing. In another couple of years he'll whip up another batch of snake oil to try to foist off on people.

Hopefully, the people who should have known better (banks, etc.) and handed money over to this guy no questions asked learned something.

Soggy's avatar
He's no snake oil salesman, at least not in the traditional way. If he were ripping everyone off and taking their money, wouldn't he have ended up rich instead of broke? The article mentions that his old business was making him a personal income of 1.5 - 2 million per year. He obviously was doing things his way there and figured he could do the same with a park. Oops.
janfrederick's avatar
Well, running and building are two different tasks.

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