mahsah
June 10, 2010, 1:42pm
1
Anyone have any examples of “entrepreneurial activism” in history? That is, individual entrepreneurs who had a large social or political impact (contra the state, especially). I’m looking for more things like Lysander Spooner’s American Mail Letter Company:
The American Letter Mail Company was an American mail company started by Lysander Spooner in 1844 to compete against the legal monopoly of the United States Post Office (now the United States Postal Service). It went defunct in 1851 after being outlawed by Private Express Statutes. Spooner started the service out of frustration with exceedingly high postal rates. At the time, it cost 18 3/4 cents to send a letter from Boston to New York and 25 cents to send one from Boston to Washington, DC. A...
Or S.B. Fuller:
S. B. Fuller (June 4, 1905 – October 24, 1988) was an American entrepreneur. He was founder and president of the Fuller Products Company, publisher of the New York Age and Pittsburgh Courier, head of the South Side Chicago NAACP, president of the National Negro Business League, and a prominent black Republican. S. B. Fuller's life was an illustration of business success and self-help. His company gave inspiration and training to countless aspiring entrepreneurs and future leaders, including John ...
Fred Smith who started Federal Express comes into my mind first. Also, Henry Ford (Except for his stance against the Gold Standard).