The Men Who Built America is a documentary series about former entrepreneurs in American History. Cornelius Vanderbilt, John D. Rockefeller, Andrew Carnegie, J.P. Morgan and Henry Ford are the people observed during the documentary. All the men listed came from humble beginnings but were able to establish themselves as some of the most innovative entrepreneurs of all time. They built their empires by creating advances in technology that revolutionized society. Episode 8, The New Machine, is especially interesting to me. It focuses on John D. Rockefeller's trial against the U.S. government and the rise of Henry Ford. I found the story of Henry Ford to be filled with key business aspects. More specifically, it gives us insight on how to think as an entrepreneur.
Though many people believe Ford to be an inventor, he was really an innovator. There is actually a very important difference between the two. To be classified an an inventor, you have to be the originator of a new creation that has not existed before. Innovators introduce new methods and ideas to already established ideas and creations. This analysis is very important to new entrepreneurs. The majority of successful entrepreneurs are innovators. They find ways to bring out more value in previous ideas that create extra value to consumers. This is exactly the case for Henry Ford.
Building off this idea, one of the hardest part of entrepreneurship is creating a product of service that consumers will find valuable. The problem is that you can't ask the market. This is because consumers don't know what they want. If Henry Ford had asked his customers what they wanted, they would have asked for faster horses. You see, automobiles were considered an asset that only wealthy people could obtain. In a large sense, it was. Automobiles were expensive to buy and maintain. This is where Henry Ford was innovative. He thought that automobiles could benefit society in many ways. Therefore, the innovation wasn't inventing the car. Instead, it was finding a way to make cars reliable available to the general public. This instance showcases how society is driven by innovation in entrepreneurship. This aspect of business can give you a major edge against competition as an entrepreneur. Once you understand it, you understand how the economy works.
Another interesting aspect in entrepreneurship I took away from this documentary is risk. At the time Henry Ford wanted to build automobiles, an organization owned a patent for the engineering. This meant = that no one could produce cars unless they got permission. Ford brought his idea of affordable cars built for the general public to the organization. Unfortunately, they turned him down. Ford found this process to be unfair, however. His main argument was that no one should own a patent over the broad engineering of an automobile. Of course, Ford fought this injustice by building his first automobile anyways. This left Ford having to fight the organization over the rights. It was the classic David vs. Goliath theme. I've come to realize that this is a very common theme amongst innovative entrepreneurs. In some shape or another the little guy is always fighting the big guy. At first, I assumed this to only be because the larger, already successful, companies want to keep their monopolies per se. Then, I realized how this David vs. Goliath theme relates to entrepreneurs. This is the relationship between entrepreneurs and risk. Taking risks as an entrepreneur involves trying to capitalize on potential opportunities with the possibility of personal or professional losses. The case of Henry Ford is just one example of how some of your largest opportunities are the most risky. Taking these risks don't only have great potential gains, but are also vital during you entrepreneurial journey. Therefore, this teaches us that with risk taking you learn and grow as an entrepreneur.
