A brief history of entrepreneurship

From ancient merchants to the modern startup, here are the lessons to be learnt for a present-day entrepreneur

Entrepreneurs have been around forever. So, when you’ve landed on a great idea and you’re getting ready to set up your company, you’re in a long line of innovators stretching back thousands of years. But what can we learn from the entrepreneurs of the past, and what kind of opportunities exist for entrepreneurs of the present? Here’s a whistle stop tour through entrepreneur history – from the hunter/gatherers through the four industrial revolutions – to see what key lessons a modern-day entrepreneur can imbibe.

Earliest entrepreneurs

Even 20,000 years ago, tribes were exchanging goods. Evidence exists of basic trading of volcanic rock which could be used to create hunting weapons being exchanged for other goods. In its simplest form, this is about finding something which someone else wants. Not so different to today’s entrepreneur who is trying to find and solve a customer problem that has not yet been addressed. In the centuries that followed these earliest entrepreneurs, we start to see trade routes open up around the world and the invention of money allowing the entrepreneur to increase their potential market – no longer relying on a bartering system. If you have something that people need, you can exchange it – in the modern case, for money.

Takeaway: It all starts with a great idea and then finding those customers who want what you’re selling.

The first industrial revolution – basic factories

What can we learn from the first industrial revolution which began in the mid-18th century, when societies moved from basic agriculture to the early factories?

It’s all about invention. What can you come up with that makes an existing process more efficient? How can you make things work better? Can you invent a new process entirely?

Without this kind of thinking the first industrial revolution would have been impossible. Look at Edmund Cartwright who was behind the power loom – a piece of equipment which made a huge difference in the efficiency of textile production. Then there is Sir Humphrey Davy who created a lamp that was used by miners which greatly increased safety by helping to detect dangerous gasses. And we can’t forget George Stephenson who was behind the idea of the steam engine which would help usher in the new era of railway transport.

Takeaway: The examples could go on forever. But in all cases, the inventions made something quicker, faster, more efficient. Ask yourself: Does your idea do that?

The second and third industrial revolutions – mass production and computing

Now we’re moving into mass production as the second industrial revolution takes hold. The second industrial revolution kicked off in the middle of the 19th century, and here we see the start of mass production not just in manufacturing but also consumer goods. It’s during this period that Ford built 15 million of their legendary Model T cars. The age of the automobile was among us.

The third revolution introduced a level of computing and automation into the process. Skip forward a few decades, to the Fifties, and we land at the beginning of mainframe computing. It’s in this decade that both Bill Gates and Steve Jobs were