Wu saw little reason to start from zero: Goldwind licensed a design from Jacobs Energie, a German company.

NEWYORKER: Green Giant

As for the coming Windows 8 tablet in late 2012, Microsoft will have to start from zero against 150 million iPads which seems pretty much overwhelming, to say the least.

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So in 1999, we start from zero for Alibaba.com.

CNN: Jack Ma Talkasia Transcript

Sierra Wireless's first stab at a Windows Mobile-powered smartphone, the Voq Professional Phone, was pretty much doomed from the start the design was awful, Sierra had zero experience in marketing handsets, and they were never able to convince a single wireless carrier to offer the phone to its subscribers (which for better or for worse is how most phones get sold in the US).

ENGADGET: Sierra Wireless gets sued over Voq Professional Phone

While the mandates for corn ethanol have been met, I said quite explicitly from the start that the cellulosic ethanol mandates were wishful thinking, and that there was practically zero chance of meeting the targets.

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