Visionary Walt Disney is not someone you associate with going broke. But before the fame and fortune, he had a failed business venture in his hometown of Kansas City, Missouri. He bought a movie camera and started creating “Laugh-O-Grams"—short cartoons that would run before features in the local movie house. Since the first cartoon was a hit, Disney got a $15,000 investment from friends and opened a studio in 1922. Everything was going fine until a distributor stiffed the company. To save what was left of his money, Disney slept in his office and ate beans from a can, but it was to no avail—his first studio went broke the following year. With just enough money to buy a bus ticket, he decided to go to Hollywood to pursue his dreams.