by: Geoff Ficke

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 20th 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 5th 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 6th 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.

For six centuries the Romans ruled the known world. Their ability to create, invent and improvise has served mankind ever since. The vast Roman network of interlocking roads, tunnels, bridges, mapmaking, services, commercial enterprises and exploration is the guide we utilize to this day in communication, logistics and locomotion. We have much to thank these brilliant Romans for as we utilize so many of their inventions to this very day.

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 18th 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 19th 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.

by: Geoff Ficke

In the modern world we take for granted the availability of innumerable sources providing accurate measurements of time. Telling current time is so readily available that we have lost sight of the profound importance of knowing time, to the hour and minute. For most of human history accurately measuring time was irrelevant. There was no need for watches; clocks, clock radios or digital time reads on car dashboards.

Until the flowering of the industrial age in the second half of the 19th century most people worked in small plot agriculture. All over the world people scratched out a living farming and herding small plots and flocks. Very few people ventured more than several miles from their place of birth in their whole lifetimes. Time was told by the change of seasons and the planting and harvest cycles. Nothing else was needed to provide measurements of time.

The ancients used sundials in numerous forms for crude time measurement. Shade, rain, and cloudy days made the sundial unreliable. The Egyptians invented an advanced Water Clock. The device used a drip system that raised a float tied to a pointer. This system was relatively accurate in measuring hours, but not minutes.

The clock as we know it first appeared in Europe in the 14th century. The clock was made operable by the creation of the “verge escapement”. This gear engaged a set of teeth that powered an hour hand. There was no measurement of seconds or minutes. The hour hand was accurate within one to two hours each day. The inventor of this initial timepiece is unknown.

Something more precise was essential if technology was to advance. In 1657 a Dutch astronomer, Christiaan Huygens was credited with inventing the first accurate time keeping device that included the credible measurement of time by the minute. This advance was crucial in many fields. Navigators required accurate time measurement to compute longitude. All scientific experimentation requires accurate measurement of time.

For the common man, working on a farm, or as a village cobbler, or baker, accurate measurement of time was still of little importance. The railroad, more than any other advancement, was responsible for the rapid introduction and implementation of a universally recognized schedule of times. This schedule required accurate devices to register local time.

Railroads needed to load and offload passengers and freight at pre-appointed times and places along their lengthy route systems. Travelers and shippers needed to accurately know when trains would arrive and depart in order to be ready to board passenger cars and load shipping cars with goods. Before the growth of railroads there was little necessity for the measurement of time in minutes. It was enough for almost any human to simply know that it was 3:00 PM, plus or minus any number of minutes. However, if the train was scheduled to arrive at 3:10 PM in Leeds, England, or Dodge City, Kansas, and depart at 3:35 PM, the public needed to be able to connect within that precise window of time if they were to be able to utilize the trains many services. This required the mass production of clocks and personal timepieces.

Today we are fully wired by time. Our lives are an endless series of activities attuned to specific times. Our Saturday tennis match, doctor appointments, restaurant reservations, conference calls and NFL games are occurrences that we participate in at specific times. We need to know time to the minute and our modern environment has time accurately on display virtually every where we look. We take this simplest of conveniences for granted.

The settling of the International Time Line at Greenwich, England (Greenwich Mean Time) enables to world to be divided into time zones. We know that different parts of the world are in one of 24 separate time zones and all commercial activity finds rhythm from this practical division of geography into these agreed time zones. The rubber plantation foreman in Nigeria knows exactly when the product manager will be available in Akron, Ohio because of this internationally employed system of measuring time. The modern world could not efficiently operate if the ancients had not begun the quest for accurately measuring the hours of each day.

My marketing consulting company, Duquesa Marketing, reviews hundreds of inventions, product concepts and ideas every year from entrepreneurs and inventors. If you would like to discuss how to turn your idea into a product or commercial opportunity contact Geoff Ficke at 859-567-1609.

by: Geoff Ficke

The benefits immigration has historically provided to the America economy and lifestyle has been thoroughly documented. The waves of Irish, Italian, and eastern European’s that swamped Ellis Island during the 19th century brought little more than hope and the drive to discover an opportunity to pursue a better life in the New World. They were ravaged by the historic poverty in their homelands, hungry, illiterate in many cases and did not speak English. And yet, despite these daunting obstacles, these immigrant masses were the forerunner of the diaspora that continues to this day and from which the United States has enjoyed immeasurable benefits.

Many contemporary Americans have knowledge of family histories that detail the struggles of their first generation American forefathers. There are so many famous stories of immigrant successes from the period: Sam Goldwyn (movies), Guglielmo Marconi (radio), Eugene Strauss (department stores, Macy’s), Levi Strauss and Isaac Singer (sewing machines) are only a few examples.

Max Factor was an amazing example of immigrant success and the entrepreneurial cocktail that only America has ever fully perfected. Factor was born into poverty and a large family in Russia. He came to the United States at an early age speaking no English. The name Factor was most surely an assigned “Ellis Island” name. Eventually he moved to St. Louis and took a job in a theatre.

At this time, in the late 19th and early 20th century, theatrical plays and actors were very limited by the poor gaslights of the time. Nuance, subtlety and emotion were very difficult to convey to an audience in the stage environment of the time. Mr. Factor, standing in the rear of the theatre each night, waiting for the performance to end, began to notice that the actors were limited by the lack of definition that could be seen in their faces. To be sure, they wore a type of cornstarch makeup, but they appeared as mannequins, over painted and stiff as dead mackerel. He set about finding an answer, a way to project real emotion.

His efforts were rewarded by the introduction of two seemingly obvious creations (at least obvious today): the false eyelash and pan cake makeup. Ask any actor working today what tool they use most crucially to portray emotion and they will answer, the eyes. The false eyelash Mr. Factor created was a rough, stiff, heavily glued shock of trimmed horsehair. Difficult to apply and painful to remove though they were, actors adored them. Within months Mr. Factor was creating false eyelashes for actors everywhere. They unanimously were willing to put up with the pain in return for the opportunity to project emotion to an audience with their eyes.

Pancake makeup was created to give the face a more natural glow while highlighting each actor’s unique physical features. The old starchy pastes made every actor, even male and female, look alike. Finally, there was a light, blended powder base that could be buffed to highlight features. Actors are vain. They love to display themselves, physically, emotionally and vocally. Max Factor’s pancake makeup was the breakthrough that modernized acting as a more subtle, visual art.

Mr. Factor quickly moved to Hollywood. He recognized that the future would be in moving pictures and the movies would require a completely different lineup of cosmetic products. Cameras require light. Light offered new opportunity and Max Factor was always keen to seize opportunity. He adapted pancake makeup to the new demands of movie cameras. Almost immediately, Max Factor became recognized as Hollywood’s leading, must-have makeup designer for the movie studios. His entrepreneurial instincts not sated, he began to package products for sale to the public.The most prominent retailers of the day such as F.W. Woolworth and Kresge dime stores in the United States and Boots in England carried his products. This was the beginning of a worldwide cosmetic empire that continues to prosper to this day.

During most of the 20th century Max Factor enjoyed worldwide popularity with the Company’s cutting edge beauty advances. The Max Factor name and brand became world famous.

Max Factor always praised America and revered the freedom, opportunity and economic system that he discovered here. He came with no money, spoke no English and had no formal skill. During the course of his remarkable life he was instrumental in the maturation of two major industries: cosmetics and movies. This could never have happened had he stayed in Russia.

The opportunity to fail, or succeed, is just as possible today. The opportunity to try is not available in much of the world. Men like Max Factor are inspirational. They confirm that our system, while not perfect, is better than anything else yet invented. When you hear a citizen of this country whine about, well, about everything people whine about today, remember that millions of immigrants want to still come here for a reason. There is no place on earth so open and offering so much possibility.

Please contact me at your convenience to discuss this article, or any of my other articles. In my consulting business we help many entrepreneurs, a disproportionate number of them new immigrants, to pursue their dreams. I can be reached at gficke@msn.com : www.duquesamarketing.com .

by: Geoff Ficke

Many years ago I watched a television news interviewer allow Flight Lieutenant Jerry Rawlings, the de-facto dictator of Ghana at that time, to rant about the absolute rape of his tiny, poverty stricken west African nation, by multi-national companies like Nestle. Ghana’s major export product was the cocoa bean. Nestle, Hershey and other major chocolate purveyors were Ghana’s major customers for the cocoa bean. Rawling’s gripe: commodity prices were unfair to Ghanian growers based on the high retail prices enjoyed by the manufacturers as reflected in their finished products.

A bit of perspective is important as regards cocoa beans, and, indeed, all commodities. The cocoa bean, as grown and harvested, is inedible. It is tough, dry, bitter and rock hard. Native Ghanian’s historically had no use for the beans and considered them a nuisance.

That is, until the 19th century when Europeans perfected the process of converting the cocoa bean into refined lusciously tasty, highly desired chocolate food products. For centuries, chocolate was a dilettante’s delight, the food of royalty. Chocolate was rare, expensive and difficult to distill. Nestle, Cadbury and Hershey were among the many businesses that perfected the mass manufacturing processes essential to bringing the delights of chocolate to the masses, and as a result, created the market for the formerly unwanted Ghanian cocoa beans.

The pricing of the raw cocoa beans that Flight Lt. Rawlings was so agitated about are controlled by market forces. A socialist dictator, of course, does not understand market forces. Supply and demand, drought, market conditions and competitive forces determine what any commodity is worth on any given day. Without an industrial process capable of converting a commodity into a finished product, a system to distribute that finished product and an organized marketplace for the sale and consumption of finished goods, there would be virtually zero value in most of the world’s raw materials.

The genius of capitalist markets is reflected in the sweep of Adam Smith’s “Invisible Hand”. As entrepreneurs have pursued opportunities to commercialize their ideas they have unwittingly created sub-markets for commodities that were once considered useless. The cocoa bean, without the modern creation of a manufacturing system, distribution channel and consumer desire for refined chocolate products, is only one obvious example of markets turning something of no value into a marketable commodity with real value.

For centuries the Middle East camel caravans and traders were confronted with a constant nuisance: trade routes were often submerged in a bog of oil seeping uncontrolled from beneath the earth. The resulting need to chart and create new routes was time consuming and expensive. Oil was considered the “devils drink”. Camels could not drink oil. The Bedouin could not sleep or wear the oil.

The dawn of industrialization, mechanization, steam engines, the internal combustion engine and mobile transit created a need for significant stocks of oil. Initially, oil was plentiful and affordable in the United States. Petroleum engineers, anticipating the coming worldwide demand for petroleum distillate products, visited the Middle East in the 1920’s. The first oil concessions were negotiated with the House of Saud, and thus began the rise of omnipotent Middle East oil principalities. This is but another example of an unwanted, valueless commodity suddenly gaining remarkable currency as a result of industrial, really entrepreneurial success.

Bauxite, plutonium, titanium, cobalt, magnesium, and dozens more raw materials and minerals are of immense value in our contemporary world because, and solely because, modern economies have created products and industries that have need of these elements. The final products we see on our store shelves, personally consume or utilize to perform our work usually consist of a perfected blending of the world’s commodities that alone, have little use or value.

Have peoples and countries been exploited of their indigenous raw materials? Absolutely, and forever and a day this has occurred. Long before the industrial revolution people were robbed, enslaved and exploited by stronger groups in order to exploit water, salt, cattle or some perceived benefit that was not readily available to them. The modern industrial craving for raw materials to propel industrialization has been a real fact.

My point and perspective is to simply state the obvious: raw materials often have no intrinsic value as stand alone products or consumables. Without a marketplace that creates demand and valuations for minerals as product components, native peoples would enjoy even lower standards of living than Jerry Rawlings and so many current third world leaders, continually complain about.

The discussion of the appropriate use of mineral revenues by third world countries is for another article and another day. Suffice it to say that rarely does a specific nations mineral wealth benefit the native population. Vast amounts of revenues that could be applied to indigenous poverty, lack of education and economic development seems to wind up in off-shore accounts, yachts and Parisian shopping sprees.

The third world peasant unknowingly has a great benefactor in every entrepreneur. Because so much of the second and third world lacks basic property rights and rule of law, there is a resulting lack of entrepreneurial activity in these poor countries. Patent protection, intellectual property rights and transparent legal systems are essential for entrepreneurial endeavor to thrive.

Innovation that utilizes the raw materials so prevalent in many poor countries is the engine that can, and should be instrumental in eliminating poverty and ignorance. Demagogue’s ranting about the abuses of capitalism inevitably are key to keeping their populations poor. The entrepreneur, with a better mousetrap and a plan to market the device, is far more beneficial to the peasant living in darkness than the charismatic blowhard with a bushel full of rhetorical claptrap and a Swiss bank account.

Since the dawn of capitalism and the industrial revolution, entrepreneurs have created products, services and whole industries that have improved the human condition. The poorest amongst us, living in the most remote third world villages, have enjoyed at least some indirect benefits of this flood of inventiveness. The real shame is that demagogues, charlatans and political poseurs keep so many people in the dark and removed from the full benefits of participating in capitalist, profit seeking, entrepreneurial enterprise.

Inventions such as polio vaccine, the telephone, the laser, freeze-drying and flight are of amazing benefit to the poor. The capacity of the internet and electronic media to enlighten, and thus embolden formerly untouched villagers with hope, education, and ambition to improve their lot is on display in many areas of the third world. This march will not be stopped. Once people are exposed to modern comforts, opportunities and methods to peacefully improve their lot, well, as the old saying goes: “It is hard to keep them down on the farm”.

The drive to be entrepreneurial is deeply imbedded in human nature. The opportunity to use natural resources productively and profitably is just as possible in the third world as anywhere else, if transparent legal systems are in place. Creating jobs, profits and new products is what successful entrepreneurs do best. It is unfortunate that third world poverty is wrongly blamed on productive uses of indigenous resources that would be of no value to anyone if left in the ground. The real misfortune for the worlds forgotten poor is their exclusion from full economic participation in so many economies based on the willful, spiteful complicity of their leaders.

As a counselor and consultant to many entrepreneurs I am always amazed at the spirit and drive they exhibit. As I have become an internet user over the years, I am really encouraged by the contacts I receive on a daily basis from prospective entrepreneurs living in countries and continents that are not normally associated with creativity and free markets. In most situations, these hopeful entrepreneurs will not have the ability to commercialize their ideas. However, the mere fact that they have ideas, ambition and courage, despite the circumstance of their geography should be of great solace to all of us. A better world can happen and freedom, personal and commercial, will be the first rail of such a world.

by: Geoff Ficke

The 16th century was a time of amazing transformation in Europe. The Dark Ages were gone, the Black Plague had run it course and Middle Age fears and superstitions were slowly disappearing. The printing press had been invented and it was completely revamping the way people communicated. Columbus had discovered the America’s and the great age of exploration was in full swing. Medical advances, the Reformation, the creation of the great Italian banking houses and the Dutch trading companies had completely changed the way people thought, worked and worshipped.

And yet, there was one area in which there had been virtually no advance since the time of Christ: transportation. Horse or mule, horse drawn carts and boat were the methods of travel utilized to convey people, goods and foodstuffs. Travel was slow. It was uncomfortable. And, it was often very dangerous. Brigands and pirates faced little in the way of organized policing. A bandit pretty much had a field day during the period.

Of all the difficulties a traveler faced, the most frustrating by far was speed: or the lack thereof. As the great Florentine, Venetian and Genoan merchant banks financed warfare, fleets, crops, expeditions and colonization, they had to continually factor a risk premium into their risk/reward computations before settling on the interest to be charged on each loan. The slowness of receiving news of progress, success or failure on the status of an investment vehicle was agonizing to all parties participating in an enterprise. Did the fleet sink, or is it close to home with a valuable cargo? Has the battle been engaged, and who won? Was a new land discovered, and what did it offer in minerals or trade goods as materials for profit?

Knowledge is power, and speed provides the edge that makes this power so important. If I know today, what my enemy or rival will not know for several days, I have a decided advantage on strategizing to my advantage and profit. In the 16th century an industrious Belgian family developed the first international service to address the ages old problem of slow communication.

The Tassis family had obtained the rights to handle a rudimentary postal service in several Duchies in what is now Belgium. The service promised a decent living for the Tassis family by the standards of the time. However, they wanted to do more, expand and create a service that could become the international standard.

The Tassis family divided the work responsibilities between family members and had them disperse throughout Europe. The key to their success was a cohesive, standardized system of fleet horses, experienced, responsible riders, a network of terminals to change horse, rider and re-route mail and packages, and scheduled delivery times. Spain, France, Italy and Germany were little more than a polyglot of feudal city states during this time. There was no central government to handle a service like mail delivery that we consider routine today. The opportunity for a private company to organize and manage an international operation of this import and scale was a wonder.

The Tassis’ received contracts to handle the delivery of mail throughout most of continental Europe. From Naples to the Danube, and Gibraltar to Copenhagen, the family built a delivery network that managers at DHL, UPS, or FedEx would admire and recognize today. A treaty, legal contract or purchase order that took five weeks to reach Genoa from Madrid, could now be delivered in seven to 10 days. As the loads increased the price was lowered and this only accelerated the use of the service.

The family became rich, powerful and across Europe became members of the aristocracy. The name Tassis in the German language is spelled “taxis”.
Today, everywhere in the world, people call for a taxicab when they need to transport themselves for a fare. The taxi service created by the Tassis’ was an important part of the development of the Renaissance.

The Tassis are responsible for one of the most elemental and important service enhancements in history. The ability to accelerate the movement of important commercial, legal and governmental communications enabled decisions to be made more quickly and on a grander scale. The entrepreneurial innovation that the Tassis family introduced enriched their family, business, government and, most importantly, the working class that benefited so much from the rapid expansion of capital and trade. Even today, we can still learn from the historical record that the ability to offer a novel new benefit pays off in so many ways.

by: Geoff Ficke

Almost every person in the world takes a certain pride in being a reasonable person. They will make prudent choices based on their background and attitudes. The safe decision minimizes the chances of being wrong. No one likes to be wrong.

The safe decision, however, carries little upside reward benefits. You are expected to pay your bills. Pay your taxes. Drive responsibly. Not yell fire in a theatre. Doing these things nets you no special extras.

All of the great ideas or advances in history have evolved from unsafe, unconventional ideas. The non-conventional idea always offers the higher reward, as well as higher risk. It is not the norm to be unsafe. It takes vision and confidence in the face of the usual chorus of criticism, doubters and opponents.

George Bernard Shaw said:
“The reasonable man adapts to the world.
The unreasonable man adapts the world to him.
All progress depends on unreasonable man”.

I concur. We all know men that were unconventional thinkers before their time. Thomas Edison, Leonard Firestone, the Wright Brothers, Da Vinci, Machiavelli, Levi Strauss, William Wrigley, Colonel Sanders, Saint Augustine, Bill Gates and so many more: these are examples of visionary men that thought outside the box to the benefit of all humankind. Their products, philosophies and advances were considered of dubious value when created. They were considered small thinkers and creators of insignificance, until the world turned their little ideas into big ideas with great fame and/or riches to follow.

Think of the Baseball Hall of Fame. Tens of millions of little boys have played baseball since the game was invented in the mid-19th century. Only about 12,000 men have ever played in the Major Leagues. This is a great achievement. Nevertheless, only a few hundred of these 12,000 are enshrined in the Hall of Fame, the ultimate sign of success. This honor is reserved for greatness. These are the players that generations remember.

Unconventional, unsafe, unpopular ideas that lead to ultimate success are the concepts we remember. Christopher Columbus is a major figure in history for reasons we all know. The Royal Spanish court was inclined originally to have him interned for heresy for claiming the world was round. Ultimately he convinced Queen Isabella to let him prove his theory and bring riches to the court. His success against huge odds is an excellent example of unsafe thinking leading to great entrepreneurial success for him and Spain.

Amerigo Vespucci arrived in the new-world second and, even though America is a turn on his name, he is a footnote in history. Martin Luther is famous still for his organizing the Protestant Reformation in the 16th century. The Hugenots, another Protestant sect, followed later in France. Who founded the Hugenots? Who remembers? It does not pay to be a follower.

Throughout history there are examples such as these where a person went out on a limb and society ultimately enjoyed the benefits. Safe decisions and following the crowd do not create opportunity.

Abraham Lincoln was a leader willing to broach unsafe thought. The mere idea that the Union could be sundered by the idea of freeing men from bondage seems absurd today. That a civil war resulted was a terrible price to pay. But Lincoln knew that slavery was vile and unsustainable for a modern, moral growing country. He is revered ‘til this day for his honesty, courage and steadfastness.

Fred Smith founded FedEx, the overnight package delivery service, with a very unsafe, unconventional idea. He wanted to take on Big Brother, the Federal Government, the classic snail mail service subsidized and delivered by the United States Post Office. He faced unimaginable hurdles. Huge capital formation needs, access to commercial airports, hard fixed overheads, licensing, etc. were huge barriers to entry. The idea was panned. He started with one, very used plane.

Mr. Smith knew he had identified a niche that was completely under-served and corporations would stampede to utilize. The disruptive innovations FedEx created have severely smacked the USPO with a dose of reality. FedEx is so successful that it has emboldened competitors to enter the field (the highest form of flattery: copying). During the Katrina disaster in New Orleans the USPO was delivering mail after five weeks. FedEx was delivering needed medicines and supplies for the relief workers after three days.

Not many sports fans today remember the name Dick Fosbury. Entering the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico City no one paid much attention to Mr. Fosbury’s chances. He was a high jumper that had never jumped very high. Nevertheless a competitive spirit brewed quietly inside him. He knew he could jump higher, be competitive and, maybe, win a medal. He was on nobody’s short list of favorites.

Mr. Fosbury decided to take an unusual approach. In a sport hidebound by ancient training techniques and approaches to performance enhancement, he went WAY OUT on a limb. Mr. Fosbury decided to approach and elevate toward the jump bar by gliding with his back to the ground. No one had ever seen such a flop as all prior jumpers approached and attempted to leap feet first. The Fosbury Flop was born.

People laughed, sportswriters had a field day and competitors snickered, for awhile. During practices, however, keen observers began to notice that Mr. Fosbury was jumping higher, much higher. It was too late for the competition to adjust and to everyone’s astonishment, the Fosbury Flop delivered the Gold Medal to Mr. Fosbury. To this day, this is the accepted jump style used to deliver the best results in the event. This is just another example of a person seizing an opportunity by thinking outside of the box.

There is no Hall of Fame for safe ideas or average people. We honor and reward people that advance civilization by implementing ideas and concepts that seemed unnecessary, even silly, at the time of invention. Bill Gate’s mother once said to him as she tried to convince him to return to Harvard, “but why would anyone need a computer in the home”? The risk takers become the reward makers when their weird, unfashionable ideas become the norm.

by: Geoff Ficke
Whatever happened to the Stanley Steamer automobile? From the production of Stanley’s first model in 1897, the Company outsold every other firm that produced internal combustion powered vehicles until the brands demise in 1924. The Steamers were safe, durable and easily maintained. So what killed the Stanley Steamer?

The Stanley Automobile Company was founded by twin brothers Francis and Freelan Stanley. The cars gained fame when a model set the world land speed record in 1906, covering one mile in 28.2 seconds. The early Steamers enjoyed a solid performance advantage over the primitive gasoline powered cars of the era.

The Stanley brothers enjoyed a sterling reputation at that time for producing cutting edge product, both from a design and engineering standpoint. Then a grievous error was made: they fell in love with their product. Steam was soon to become obsolete as a source of power. Improved internal combustion technology made the gasoline-powered car much cheaper than the Stanley Steamer. By the end of its useful life in 1924 the Stanley Steamer sold for $3950, while the Ford Model T retailed for $500.

The invention of the electric starter was another heavy blow that the Stanley Steamer could not overcome. Early internal combustion engine powered cars were started with a hand crank. The crank was notorious for causing injury and made starting a car almost impossible for women.

As the sales model for the automobile adjusted to the realities of mass production the Stanley’ brothers remained adherents of the costly steam generated power train. In desperation, seeking to halt the sales slide that their cars endured, they produced an advertising campaign that sought to instill fear and doubt about the safety of the internal combustion engine.

This marketing campaign was one of the earliest examples of negative advertising and the results were abysmal. “Power-Correctly Controlled, Correctly Generated, Correctly Applied to the rear axle” surely goes down in history as one of the most cumbersome, dull, forgettable branding statements or advertising campaign slogans of all time. The purpose of these ads was not to sell the advantages of the Stanley Steamer, but to instill doubt in consumers minds about the safety of the internal combustion engine.

Because Stanley did not continually keep ahead of rapidly advancing automotive technology, the Company’s Steamer cars were obsolete and the firm closed its doors in 1924. This is a classic example of how a market leader can rapidly lose the advantages built up so carefully over years and quickly be pushed into the dust bin of history.

Sad stories about products and Companies like the Stanley Automobile Company are commonplace. Virtually every industry and product category experiences such examples of churn, decline, destruction and new startups arising to fill space deserted by fallen stars. Marketers must always assume that competition is working relentlessly to overcome any advantage that they might currently enjoy and are seeking to replace their products with newer, fresher designs and technology. To not be fearful of the unknown is much more than unwise, it is stupid!

by: Geoff Ficke
Along with duct tape, probably the most common product handymen keep in the garage for tackling household chores and repairs is the ubiquitous lubricant spray WD-40. I am a mechanical klutz. But when something needs fixing in my home, I simplistically grab the duct tape or a can of WD-40 for use in my first line of attacking the problem at hand.

WD-40 is a classic example of a product innovation that defines the persistence required of successful inventors and entrepreneurs when facing hurdles. WD-40 was invented by the three owners of the Rocket Specialty Chemical Company of San Diego. The team was attempting to develop a product that would prevent corrosion on aircraft and aerospace components. It was first successfully used on the Atlas missile.

Norm Larsen is the scientist most often credited with inventing the essential molecular formula necessary to perfect the superior lubricating properties of WD-40. WD-40’s famous navy blue spray can, with the yellow shield and red plastic closure is one of the most recognizable consumer product packages in modern marketing. Initially WD-40 was sold solely for industrial uses. The original aerosol can presentation of WD-40 was introduced into the consumer product marketplace in 1958 and has sold strongly ever since.

Most interesting is the provenance of the brand name, WD-40. The W stands for water. The D stands for displacement. The number 40 represents the number of experiments Mr. Larsen conducted to perfect the chemical formula necessary to produce WD-40. How many people give up on a task long before they make 40, or 30, or 20, or 3 stabs at finding a proof for a problem?

This level of commitment and the passion for finding answers to difficult hurdles is endemic in all successful product creators. Larsen and his Rocket Specialty Chemical Company team, I am sure, would have made 140 more attempts to find the answers they were seeking. The reward for their efforts was a wonderful product that decades later is still enriching their estates and making neophyte DIY practitioners like myself a little better at successfully completing their chores.

by: Geoff Ficke

Successful business owners tend to approach fanaticism in nurturing every aspect of their enterprise. They work longer hours than their employees, take the work home with them, sacrifice leisure and relaxation as they obsess over their competitors and continually seek new systems and innovation to expand their shop. They are rewarded by receiving the respect of their peers, providing a comfortable lifestyle for their families and their employee’s families and participating in the social fabric of the community in which they operate.

The erudite Spanish critic and philosopher George Santayana once wrote, “Fanaticism consists in redoubling your effort when you have forgotten your aim”.

When things go cockeye in any enterprise, the only opportunity the group will have to right their ship is to look at history and recalibrate. What made them successful? What did their customers reward with support? Where did they fall off the rails?

History is resplendent in examples of organizations that lost their way. Those that “forgot their aim” either redoubled their efforts at getting back to their original success path or were consumed by their mistakes. Empires such as the Hohenzollerns, Romanov, Bourbons and Hapsburgs expired as times changed and they didn’t. The Royal houses of Great Britain, Holland, Sweden and Denmark, however, recalibrated in the face of modern democracy and adjusted to the times and still enjoy their thrones and a large measure of popularity with their subjects.

In World War II the Russian army was initially invaded, pummeled, mauled and demoralized by the German invaders. However, the Red Army adjusted, replaced their general officer corps; devised new strategies and weapons systems that were purpose built to fight the Nazi menace. After a grueling series of embarrassing defeats the Soviets finally were able to absorb the Nazi push at Moscow and slowly turned the tide. Changing strategies lead to the Russians seizing Berlin at the end of the war and complete vanquishing of Hitler’s forces.

Contrast this result with the inflexible strategy executed by the Imperial Russian army in World War I. The Russians simply sent waves of under-equipped, starving, freezing peasant soldiers in waves to be slaughtered by well dug in, well armed, well-provisioned German divisions. The disgust that these soldiers felt at being used as cannon fodder lead directly to mass mutiny and the opportunity for Communists to seize the government and control of the army. After pulling back and virtually surrendering to the Germans, the newly entrenched Bolshevik government seized the Romanov family and murdered them.

There are many examples of religious movements, charities and businesses that did not adapt to changing times user tastes or styles. Islam has lasted for centuries while Zoroastroism and Coptic Christianity have virtually become extinct in the Middle East. Animism is on the decline in Africa even as Roman Catholicism and Evangelical Christianity groups convert large numbers of people across Africa.

The Salvation Army and Catholic charities enjoy sustained growth while the United Appeal and Red Cross, while still important, have been hurt by scandal.

The most starkly obvious examples of groups losing their way can be found in the business world. Look at listed stock equities that made up the Dow Jones Industrial Average in the 1930’s. Only Standard Oil (Exxon), Procter & Gamble, Dupont and United Technologies (United Aircraft) remain from the original list of blue chip companies that defined American industrial might. How did so many formerly stellar performers fall by the commercial way side.

The most stunning fall, and most relevant to contemporary observers is General Motors. Former GM Chairman Charlie Wilson once famously said, “What is good for General Motors is good for the United States”. GM was synonymous with American industrial might and was a symbol of American strength, creativity and the good life.

GM was assembled in the 1920’s and 1930’s by the management innovator Alfred Sloan. By taking Chevrolet, Pontiac, Buick, Oldsmobile and Cadillac and creating stair step marketing Mr. Sloan targeted an automotive nameplate at every demographic group. Young families started with Chevrolet and as their economic situation improved they moved up the ladder of brands to Buick and later Cadillac.

The loyalty this strategy created was reinforced by constant fresh styling cues.

GM design was personified by the brilliant craftsmanship and coach design of Harley Earl. Mr. Earl had a signature style that came to scream GM, cutting edge, beauty and created consumer desire for being seen driving GM cars.

As late as the 1970’s over half of all vehicles sold in America were produced by GM. Then a series of events occurred which caught the behemoth corporation flat footed, bloated and unable, unwilling and without the guile necessary to change direction and adapt to changing market realities. A long, slow, inevitable decline has resulted in the implosion of GM, bankruptcy and shedding important component divisions that will forever hamper the company’s ability to compete with more nimble competitors.

GM has failed. It is the butt of late night comedian’s jokes. Sales have cratered and Government Motors is out of most consumers mind when considering a new vehicle purchase. The demise of GM has occurred even as agile competitors from Europe, Japan, Korea and China see their growth accelerating. The necessary value retention, durability, warranty, performance, fuel economy and styling that GM did not address has been committed too with gusto by the competition.

Brands like Toyota, Hyundai, Fiat, Honda, BMW, and Chery have recognized what consumers want and provide these features and benefits at prices that GM could not match. GM did not redouble efforts to provide consumers with true value in exciting packages. The competitors have.

GM is now trying to reinvent the corporation. All Americans hope they can. However, the deck is as stacked against GM as it was against Studebaker, Hudson, Crosley, Nash, Stutz, Pierce Arrow, Dusenberg and Hupmobile.

GM, like so many other enterprises, lost their aim. They did not redouble their efforts to please their formerly loyal consumers until far too late in the game. This is a crippling malady that is most difficult to overcome. The fanaticism of Harley Earl, Alfred Sloan, Charley Wilson and Zora Arkus-Duntoff (creator of the Corvette) has been missing for too long. The Cadillac Cimarron is a symbol of a legacy short on passion and fanaticism and long on lethargy and mismanagement.

Every entrepreneur can take an important lesson from the horrific demise of this fallen American industrial icon. Passion can never lessen. Stay focused while being astute in keeping abreast of changing consumer tastes is essential. As tastes change, you must adjust. The fanaticism you bring to your enterprise will enable you to succeed initially, but redoubling efforts is key to maintaining growth and long term viability.