Nasdaq-100 dropped by -41.89% in 2008, and then went up by +53.54% in 2009. That's it. The only other negative performance since 2002 was in 2018 (-1.04%). If you are a kind of investor who starts selling off in the middle of an economic downturn, of course you will lose.
Just worth noting: 3/5 * 3/2 = 9/10. i.e., dropping 40% then going up 50% doesn't get you back up to 100%. Not saying you implied that it does. Just making this fact explicit.
