I have been listening to the cast recording of Hamilton quite a bit over the last two months and decided to read a biography on George Washington to better fill in my understanding of the time period. I’m now up to George Washington in his first year of the presidency. It’s amazing how similar the issues faced by the Founding Fathers are to those faced by entrepreneurs and businesses today (albeit with fewer armed conflicts).
First, the population of the US in the 1780s was only between 3 and 4 million people. New York was not the most populous city in the country. Leaders were usually not pure political figures but were made by their written words or actions (it also usually required significant wealth to enter the conversation).
Now imagine the development of the US Constitution and the first years of the new government. It’s basically the story of the small business of America becoming a well-run organization. There were many, many, many ways that the organization could have failed. In fact, it was more likely it would fail than succeed – just like so many businesses.
The early leaders in the new government were essentially tasked with building their own businesses. Alexander Hamilton’s Treasury Department was the largest branch of the government in the early days. Thomas Jefferson in the State Department had to develop new policies for everything along with protocols. President Washington had to spend significant time just helping determine the proper way to address the person in his role (the early Senate recommendation still included “His Highness”).
The federal government also faced stiff competition from state governments that thought they held the highest standing. Nothing came easy and there was no blueprint for success. Facebook at least had MySpace to see what to do/not do.
Pop business theory is all well and good but if you really want to read about a true blue ocean strategy, read about the achievements of the Founding Fathers. It’s good for mapping their experience onto your own but also for better appreciating what we really have today. Well established institutions can survive for many reasons and the federal government in its early days established a very effective path to creating long-term sustainability. Not everything is perfectly applicable but more is than I ever expected.