Whether in business, warfare or affairs of the heart knowledge, the more the better, is often the most crucial element in determining event outcomes. The ability to know what the competition for a business deal is strategizing is potentially game changing. A General upon learning details of a rivals battle plan gains immense advantages in plotting counter-strategy. Knowledge is often not quantifiable, but it is invaluable.

One of the most famous and consequential uses of real time knowledge occurred in Europe in 1815. Early in the 19^th century information obtainable through communication channels about distant events was painstakingly slow to arrive. Roads were rough, unfinished, really little more than cart paths. There was no wire transmission or speedy organized courier services for delivering messages over vast distances. Word of the outcome of a battle, treaty or an important political affair could takes weeks or months to arrive where the result was most keenly anticipated.

The Battle of Waterloo is possibly the most famous military engagement in history. The battle site, the tiny, remote Belgian village of Waterloo, is synonymous today with one’s “final act”. Waterloo became Napoleon Bonaparte’s denouement. His inglorious defeat by the British forces, commanded by the Duke of Wellington, expedited his exile to the tiny island of Elba and the decline of France as a military power for almost a century.

Prussian, Austrian and Russian armies had allied to fight with the British against Napoleon. All of these great armies, moving across vast swaths of Europe terrain needed extensive provisioning, arming and logistic support to maintain troops as they girded for the great battle. This was an incredibly expensive enterprise. Massive funding was required to support the campaign.

The Rothschild banking family was already famous across most of Europe for providing a secure funding source for national governments. The Rothschild’s had established five branches of their enterprise. The largest, most important were based in Paris and London. The final Napoleonic war was largely funded by Nathan Rothschild of the family’s London branch. This house had provided large sums to both the British and the French. The Rothschild’s were famously indifferent to rulers and governments. Nathan Rothschild once famously remarked, “The man who controls the British money supply controls the British, and I control the British money supply”. His goal was to profit no matter whom was in power or won a war.

Nathan Rothschild knew that early knowledge of the winner at Waterloo, details of the battle, the severity of the loser’s defeat would be invaluable in financially manipulating markets to profit from the result. The family had invested heavily over the decades in field agents that forwarded tips and messages, fast packet ships and trained carrier pigeons to speedily deliver notes.

The arrival of the carrier pigeons in London with specific battle results from Waterloo provided Rothschild the information he needed to begin to plant rumors. Initially he spread the word that the British had lost. Investors began to adjust their bond and security positions in reaction to this negative news. Rothschild took opposite positions, and then, he strategically released the actual truthful news that Wellington had vanquished Napoleon. This enabled the family to profit on both sides of the trades. It is estimated that the Rothschild family extrapolated an increase in wealth of 20 times their pre-war capital.

The foresight to train a winged air force of carrier pigeons proved fortuitous and extremely profitable for the banking house of Rothschild. The edge they enjoyed in receiving real-time information, and spectacularly profiting from the knowledge, became legendary and only increased the perception that they were a family of financial Merlin’s. Their power and wealth has multiplied exponentially in the past 200 years and has been maintained to this very day.

In modern business and finance, the ability to glean information about competitor’s plans, information that will affect asset valuations and marketing strategies is invaluable. Governments spend billions of dollars trying to steal state and commercial secrets. Private investigators are used every day to scope out the fidelity and affairs of married spouses. Information is power.

Entrepreneur’s can learn an important lesson from this chronicle about the Rothschild’s use of carrier pigeons. If your project has true commercial value it must be protected. You must assume that there are people working at the same time on a similar opportunity. Time is not your friend.

Whether you can uncover a competitor’s plan or an adversary learns your project’s details, the first owner of knowledge stands to maximize profit. Placing second in this process is a sure path to losing the crucial first to market product advantage. The Rothschild’s earned fabulous riches from simply learning the outcome of a battle before competitors. In order for entrepreneur’s to successfully profit from their efforts they must harvest every bit of relevant and available knowledge as quickly as possible.

Knowledge is invaluable, but it must be secured and utilized with diligence and due haste.

Studying the history of business is a fascinating exercise. The origins of many of the finance and business products that we utilize today were perfected during centuries past in countries sprinkled far and wide around the world. One of the most important, inventive and skilled business cultures was created in the Netherlands during the 17^th century.

As the world was discovered, mapped and colonized by the early Spanish and Portuguese explorers, new trade routes were pioneered and many high value products came to market in Europe as demand for exotic imports exploded. This boom in international trade required a corresponding expansion of novel financing mechanisms to fund this commerce.

The first great merchant traders were the Portuguese. They used Lisbon as their trade center. However, their trade apparatus was primitive even for the age. The principal imports and the most valuable products of 1600’s trade were East Asian spices and silks. Because the Portuguese were inefficient in distribution and in financing methods the Italians, Spanish and Dutch were all interested in circumventing Portuguese merchants and overtaking their trade relationships.

The Dutch were particularly enterprising. They were also committed to espionage. Use of spies enabled the Dutch to discover the state secrets of the Portuguese trade routes. With knowledge of the well documented Portuguese trade routes in hand, a great level of risk was removed from the international commercial trade equation.

In 1598 Jakob von Neck organized a group of five companies into a trade expedition. He left with 22 ships, visited the Spice Islands in Indonesia and managed to negotiate and secure a cargo of pepper and other valuable spices. By the time he had returned to the Netherlands, von Neck had lost eight ships but still earned his investing partners a 400% return on their stakes.

At that time each voyage was a stand-alone business entity. Piracy, disease, weather and simple navigation error made these trips highly speculative. Also, the commodities being traded were highly elastic in valuations. A successful voyage could generate staggering profits, but losses were common and could be steep.

The Dutch saw opportunity to create a cartel. The result was the Dutch East India Company formed in 1602. This was the world’s first multinational company. The enterprise was the worlds first to be owned by investors through the issuance of stock equity.

The Dutch East India Company did not simply send ships to negotiate one off trade deals. The Company became fully integrated to mitigate risk and maximize profits. In addition to owning, manning and operating a shipping fleet, the Company fielded a phalanx of trading agents in countries all over Asia. They built and maintained fixed trading posts near the farms, plantations and sources of production of their trade goods. Having a permanent team of buyers, sellers and facilities on location cemented trade relationships at a time when communication was horribly inefficient. This gave Dutch traders huge advantages over competitors.

The Dutch became ensconced in the regions they cultivated for trade. In addition, owing to the immense travel distances required to complete each voyage, they established a system of logistics, strategically placed supply outposts, repair facilities and provisioning points to support the growing ship traffic that the Dutch East India Company maintained. The outposts were dotted along the African coasts, Madeira, Madagascar, India and Indian Ocean Island Archipelago’s. The presence of these commercial facilities only served to increase trading opportunities for the Company in regions where these plants were positioned.

For almost 200 years the Dutch East India Company paid a dividend to shareholders of 18%. This was the most valuable enterprise in the world at that time. The success of this business model made tiny Holland the richest state on earth. They pioneered the use of letters of credit, bills of lading and receivable financing. These, and many other finance mechanisms created by the Dutch, enabled this tiny kingdom to enjoy status as one of the world’s great colonial powers while much larger nations stumbled and declined.

For 200 years the Dutch East India Company was the international gold standard for corporate governance, performance and profitability. To this very day, the trade routes, trading terms and conditions, and marketing techniques perfected by Dutch merchants are in use. This entrepreneurial nation is an example that modern states can study to learn the massive positive possibilities inherent in creating open trading systems.

Successful entrepreneurs are people that always see opportunity in any situation. By nature they are positive and constantly seek innovations that address wants and needs that they identify in their contemporary environment. Currently we are in a dark economic period, and this will prove to be a fertile time for the introduction of novel innovations that will reward their creators with significant profit.

The world’s most famous, widely played and sold board game is Monopoly. Lizzie Phillips created the first version of the game that was to evolve into modern Monopoly. Her game was meant to promote the single tax theories of Henry George, and the play rules were heavily influenced by his populist philosophy. Ms. Phillips filed several patents on versions of her game around 1904. She enjoyed modest commercial success.

The game and its play rules were tweaked through the years. Subsequently, the various forms of Ms. Phillips rudimentary game that were introduced never enjoyed great sales but the game never quite disappeared. Then came the Great Depression.

The many causes of the Great Depression have been well chronicled and today most people are aware of at least the broadest reasons for the implosion of the world’s economy. Greed was the cause most often stated at the time to assign blame. Society was highly segmented by wealth, education, geography and class. Charles Darrow recognized opportunity in the misery of so many and crafted his classic version of Monopoly to address the perceived social sins of the times.

The play rules and component elements of Monopoly, little changed to this day, reflected the deep divisions in society. Darrow’s game, launched in 1935, displayed the whole range of opportunities for failure and success that could occur in a capitalist society. You could go to jail, be taxed, be fined, go bankrupt or land on owned property and have to pay rents to the hated landlord if the dice were unlucky for a player.

Likewise, you could “pass go” and collect $200, win dividends, buy property, build houses and hotels, own railroads (the classic metaphor for greedy capitalists) and collect rents if the roll of the dice favored you. Also, you could bankrupt your opponents and this occurred with frightening regularity in real life during the 1930’s.

Clearly Monopoly was a game that resonated during the darkest days of the Depression and still works as a leisure activity to this very day. Darrow attained great wealth from the sales of his version of monopoly. Monopoly was licensed by the British Secret Service through John Waddington Ltd. during World War II. The International Red Cross forwarded Monopoly sets to British war prisoners incarcerated in Nazi camps. These games included hidden packets of real money, maps, communication devices and tools for use in escape attempts.

Parker Brothers secured the rights to Monopoly and succeeded in internationalizing the game by assigning country-specific play features. For instance, in the American game, the most prized real estate deeds to own are Park Place and Boardwalk. In the British version the most prized blocks of real estate to own are the very tweedy Park Lane and Mayfair.

The game’s origins, history and ownership are surrounded by significant controversy. Parker Brothers attributes all of the creative, copyrights, play rules and component design of Monopoly to Charles Darrow. This lead to decades of legal wrangling over the true ownership as Lizzie Phillips and others claimed creative ownership of the game. These legal issues were not settled until the 1980’s.

There are a number of lessons for modern inventors to be taken from the profitable, but stormy history of the simple board game of Monopoly.

If the game has play rules that anyone can easily understand, play is fluid, play pieces are simple and attractive; then there is potential for commercial success.

You must protect your game with copyrights, trademarks and patents where applicable. Not properly protecting these valuable assets lead to much disagreement and expensive, extended legal wrangling in the case of Monopoly.

My consumer product development and marketing consulting company sees more toy and game submissions than almost any other product category. The barriers to entry in this class of trade are reasonable if the inventor is willing and able to bootstrap their offering. We recommend a play focus group to confirm that target players affirm the attractiveness and commercial appeal of the game or toy.

Recently, for a class project, a third grade teacher let us borrow her class of 23 students to play a new sports board game for half a day. We filmed the session. We also had the kids answer a series of simple questions of their play experience. Based on their reactions, we were able to adjust one basic play rule to further simplify and expand the appeal of the game. The change resulted in the final result of the game becoming much more closely contested, therefore exciting.

The perfect time to launch a new product is always now. Time is never the friend of the entrepreneur. If you wait for the perfect time, the best market conditions to appear, someone can beat you to market with a product that cannibalizes the best parts of your idea. This happens all too often. Waiting for a better climate is an excuse for inaction and a sure path to mediocrity. Charles Darrow’s launch of Monopoly in 1935 at the height of the Great Depression is a wonderful example to study.

Modern travelers take the open road for granted. We can hop into exquisitely engineered modern vehicles, pop onto smooth, straight freeways, well lit, with excellent signage and many roadside conveniences. We can cover as much ground as we might like in any direction, in relative comfort and safety.

Much that we love about modern road travel was actually available 2500 years ago to the ancient Romans. They created the template for a system of interconnected roads and conveniences that we have simply adapted during the 20^th century as the automobile became the mass method of conveyance. The road system that they built to connect their far-flung empire is still in use in many places.

As the Roman Empire flourished, conquered and consolidated new lands and needed to efficiently administer these territories the necessity for a durable network of roads became obvious to the ruling class. Prior to Roman ascendancy roads around the world were simple unpaved paths cut into the landscape by pack animals, carts and people moving goods to trade, barter and local markets.

The Romans prospered by trading in the lands they conquered, but they also needed to move great armies, control supply lines and have the ability to quickly transport edicts, orders and news to the far corners of the empire in a timely manner. To build this essential intra-state network of highways the Romans utilized the manpower always available in their army legions.

The quality and durability of Roman roads still amazes. Depending on topography Roman roads were famously straight for as far as the eye could see. This engineering feat was accomplished without any of the modern surveying equipment used by road builders today. The Romans invented a simple device called the gromma and this became the principal tool utilized for accurately surveying roads and thoroughfares.

The gromma ingeniously uses two strings with a weight tide to the end of each. The strings are attached to the ends of a length of wood. The surveyor would simply line up the strings until they appeared as one, and would have assistants plant stakes approximately every 100 yards apart . The surveyor, using the gromma as a guide, would have the assistants slightly adjust stake placement until the strings of the gromma and the line of stakes appeared as one. The result was a roadbed that was true, precise and easily utilized by the construction crews.

The Romans laid rock above the roadbed so the surface was higher than the land next to the road. This enabled water to drain off to the side and meant that roads did not wash out in inclement weather. Gravel was placed on both sides of the roadway to act as a sort of gutter to carry away runoff.

This system, when viewed on a modern map, appears much as the present day system of interstate highways is constructed. Spain, Gaul (modern France), Italy, Germany, the British Isles, Greece and Northern Africa all were tied closely together by this amazing transport network. Modern roadways parallel this grid in most countries where the Romans built their highways.

The Romans built over 2000 bridges. Many are in use, carrying traffic to this day. The arches they crafted were amazingly strong, with strategically placed keystones supporting the massive weight and pressure of these utilitarian edifices. In addition, these bridges are some of the most beautiful structures ever built. The Roman word for bridge was “pontificat”. Today we apply the descriptive name “Pontiff” to the Pope of the Roman Catholic Church, as the Pope acts as the bridge between heaven and earth.

Hundreds of tunnels had to be built through the rugged topography of central Europe in order to move traffic to the most expeditious routes. The Romans had no power tools to gouge through rock. They had no dynamite. The technology to construct these tunnels was primitive, but most effective. Engineers would build massive bonfires right against the rock face of the surveyed tunnel. Then they would boil vinegar and have this splashed against the burnt rock face. While the effect of the heat and vinegar was greatest sappers would begin to chip at the weakened surface with chisels and hammers. Some of the tunnels took 20 years to complete.

As the road system grew, the need for roadside services became acute. Travel was typically undertaken in approximately 20-mile daily chunks. As a result every 20 miles or so, along the breadth of the massive Roman network of roads, there were roadside inns, workshops to repair transit vehicles, and stables to care for livestock. Maps were prevalent and indicated not only place names, but distances, accommodations, levels of luxury, services, and military garrisons.

As distance was crucial in planning itineraries the Romans perfected the odometer 2000 years ago. They utilized a 42-inch diameter wheel and a series of gears that engaged each time the wheel made a full turn. The interlocking gear system was calibrated so each gear turned as it was activated until a Roman mile (approximately 5000 modern feet) was covered. Then a gravel pellet would fall into a container as holes in the gears came into alignment. This amazingly accurate measuring system enabled the Romans to mark their maps, and place stones alongside the roadsides marked with precise distances covered and to the next town or service stop.

Today, travel has become a hugely popular experience enjoyed by millions of people around the world. Whether a brief weekend road trip, a cruise or an international vacation, people love to go. So did the Romans. The Romans were the richest people in the history of the world to that time. The system of roads they built were heavily utilized for recreational travel, the first time in history that people had the wherewithal to move freely about for strictly leisure purposes.

Travel guidebooks were omnipresent in ancient Rome. The travel guidebook for the many attractions of Greece, for example, was 20 full papyrus pages long. Inns and eating establishments were rated for economy, luxury, cleanliness and safety. The modern Michelin and Fodor guidebooks are simply successors of the Roman travel guides.

At most major crossroads on Roman roads there was a sign offering directions, distances and recommended stops for repairs, refreshments or relaxation. Many also included a news board with recent proclamations, travel warnings and local notices. These were the world’s first billboards.

As travel grew in popularity so did the menu of services available to the traveler. Chariots, sedan chairs, carts, wagons and covered wagons with swivel seats and dice tables (for the rich) were available for rent. Accommodations varied widely in cost and quality. Hostels, servants quarters, private sleeping rooms, luxury quarters with fire, bathing and mattresses were on offer depending on one’s pocketbook. Food was offered in similar variety.

The world’s first fast food was also available from some purveyors. The cart simply pulled to a door or opening, the menu card was reviewed and the order placed and delivered to the vehicle to be consumed as the journey continued.

The Roman Empire began to consume itself around the 5^th century. The pursuit of luxury, greed and laziness made the Empire corpulent, vainglorious and decadent. The same roads that had been so crucial in their military, recreational and commercial enterprises came to haunt the Romans. Their many enemies utilized this road network to attack their former masters. The Visigoths, the Franks and the Mongols used the Roman roads to carve back lands formerly taken from them and to attack Rome mercilessly. By the end of the 6^th Century Roman hegemony was long a thing of the past.

The demise of the Roman Empire meant that the maintenance and continued construction of the roads came to a halt. This had the unintended consequence of leaving huge swaths of the system in areas where there was no effective government. Trade came to a halt. The roads were deserted. In many areas, especially North Africa, Britain, Spain and France the Roman highways disappeared beneath weeds and fauna.

The result was the commencement of the Dark Ages. People stopped travelling for almost any reason. Until the Crusades there was almost no interaction between peoples and cultures. The insularity of tribes and fiefdoms lead to a reawakening of ignorance, disease, superstition and hate.

by: Geoff Ficke

Cement is the most widely used building material in the world and has been for thousands of years. The historical record confirms that the ancient Persians, Assyrians and Babylonians used cement in the binding and affixing of mud bricks. The Egyptians also used cement in construction. It was the Romans, however, that perfected the production of slaked cement that made many construction advances possible.

The basic materials that the ancients used to make cement were readily available, then as now. Sand, water and rocks, the basic ingredients in cement, are essentially found anywhere in the world. The first great advance in the evolution of the production of cement was the Roman invention of the pozzalana technique. The Romans found that volcanic ash from Mount Vesuvius, when mixed with slaked lime; sand and water produced an amazingly versatile type of cement. It was easier to work with and delivered much greater strength than previous blends.

Many of the monuments and buildings so gloriously built by the ancient Romans, standing to this day, benefited from the perfection of pozzalana cement. Hadrians Arch, the Forum, the Roman Baths, the Appian Way, the Church of Constantine and many more edifices were strengthened utilizing this simple, but essential construction product. The proof of the utility of pozzalana cement is on display every where you look in modern Rome. Ancient walls of pozzalana cement as thick as 12 feet have been discovered at a number of Roman archeological dig sites.

Amazingly, the secret of pozzalana cement was soon lost and was not re-discovered until the 18^th century, when the scientific age of discovery was in full bloom. The lost recipe for Roman cement was re-invented and continued in use until Portland cement was perfected in the 19^th century. Portland cement is the gold standard product for building material to this day.

For almost 1500 years builders were limited because an ancient method of improving simple cement was lost. We know that many of the inventions of the ancient world went extinct as well. Bathing and personal hygiene became rare, directly contributing to advance of disease and the great Plague.

Running water and sanitation systems, common in ancient Rome, were lost and did not reappear until the late middle ages. Agriculture techniques, brewing spirits, military organization and strategy, road building and trade routes were lost for centuries as well.

Today we take much for granted. We assume that things will always be convenient, food prevalent, choices abounding and affordable. The lesson of history is that this is not necessarily so. Societies do recede. Knowledge can be lost. We must protect and value our freedoms, knowledge, science and creativity.

Today, in a good portion of the world, the populace lives much as the most backward ‘burgher of the Dark Ages lived. Subsistence farming is prevalent. Clean water is not available. Hygiene is unknown. Basic medical care and drugs are not to be found. These populations do not choose this bleak existence, they have simply never known anything else but the horrid grate of endless poverty, ignorance and hunger.

In other areas of the world, owing to religious or societal mores, there is no desire to live a modern lifestyle. The whole goal is to live as if the year were 908 rather than 2008. In too many instances, unfortunately and dangerously, these populations not only wish to live lives of physical deprivation but they want the rest of us to be forced to accept their hatred of modernity and be forced to share their aversion of contemporary comforts.

The inventions that the Romans perfected and left for subsequent generations were soon lost. The world went into a period of darkness. Creativity and science went into torpor. It could happen again. It could happen to us if we let down our guard and allow our advances and knowledge base to wither and decline. It will happen if some fanatics have their way and can force their ideology on peoples not appreciative of their freedoms. Freedom isn’t free and gains can easily be lost.

The history of the rise of organized banking is a bit more plodding and evolves from a most unlikely source. Today our knowledge of the Knights Templar is garnered mostly from popular culture such as the Indiana Jones movies. The history of this iconic fighting force, and their evolution into the first international commercial group of the middle ages is as amazing a tale as can be told in any fictional movie or novel.

The Knights Templar was formed after the initial Christian victory in the First Crusade to take Jerusalem from the Muslims in 1099. Pilgrims from all over the Christian world wanted to make the pilgrimage to Jerusalem and the Holy Land. However, travel at that time was exceedingly dangerous. The Knights Templar was first organized as a monastic order to protect the pilgrims as they traveled. They took a strict vow of poverty.

Over the next 200 years the order flourished and developed into a renowned fighting force. With their sturdy mounts, white hooded tunics displaying the Red Cross, and shiny armor, they lead the way into numerous battles against the enemies of Christendom. The vow of poverty was strictly enforced, but many royal and noble families delivered their sons to the Knights Templar to curry favor with the Papacy of the Catholic Church.

The Knights Templar enjoyed favored status with popes and archbishops from all over Europe and North Africa, for their reverence, gallantry and honesty. They were often rewarded with alms, farms, lands and livestock. Their power grew as the public recognized the special relationship they enjoyed with the clerical hierarchy of the Church.

Many pilgrimage makers came to depend on the Knights Templar to hold their valuables in safekeeping as they made the difficult journey. The order created secure safe storage facilities at strategic locations along the most used routes. They developed a type of written chit that verified that they held certain monies and valuables owned by the bearer. Upon arrival in the Holy Land, the bearer could visit a Knights Templar outpost, present their receipt and receive monies, bullion or goods in kind, the equivalent of that left behind in the order’s care.

This was the first form of bank cheque and was probably the earliest form of organized international banking. The system evolved as the Knights Templar gained vast new riches, even though they were still vowing to live a life of poverty. Previous to their development of rudimentary banking products most trade was accomplished by crude barter. They became the richest entity in the world at that time and began to suffer the increased scrutiny of their historic protectors in the Catholic Church.

By the 14^th century, the church moved to disband the Knights Templar and martyred many that were captured. The order became a secretive underground society and rumors of their activities and continued existence are legend to this day. The locations of the lost gold, silver, jewels, art and religious artifacts that the Knights Templar acquired and hoarded in their many adventures is also the stuff of fables and lore. The lost Holy Grail, and all of the fabulous tales attached to this famed relic from the Last Supper, is often connected to the Knights Templar.

The commercial activity that the simple, novel creation of a system for verifying bank guarantees is actually the Knights Templar’s greatest contribution to mankind. This simple transactional device has proven far more valuable historically than their military conquests and reputation for living pious lives. It is certainly not what they are best known for. But it is an invention that has positively effected commerce and productivity to this very day.