Podcast
Business History
Hosted by Pushkin Industries · EN
It’s the history of business. How did Hitler’s favorite car become synonymous with hippies? What got Thomas Edison tangled up with the electric chair? Did someone murder the guy who invented the movies? Former Planet Money hosts Jacob Goldstein and Robert Smith examine the surprising stories of businesses big and small and find out what you can learn from those who founded them.
22episodes
Episodes
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A Store Owner You Can Trust: John Wanamaker, Returns and the Price Tag
Yesterday00:40:27Summary readyShopping used to be adversarial. Shoppers and store owners would bargain and haggle over prices. What one person got for $1, the next guy bought for £1.25. And there were no returns. It was unfair and stressful - and made shoppers distrustful that they were getting a good deal. John Wanamaker changed all that. Wanamaker thought about being a preacher before setting up as a clothes merchant. So he built a retail empire built on fairness and trust. Price tags appeared in his stores - promising everyone would pay the same. And if you weren't happy - you could return your purchase. This was so unusual that Wanamaker even won the praise of a US President. Write to us at businesshistory@pushkin.fmSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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The Boy Scout Who Brought us the Age of Disruption
1w ago00:40:42Summary readyWhy have so many tiny start-ups come from nowhere to take down huge established corporations? Is it because the incumbents were dumb? Harvard Business School professor Clayton M Christensen decided to explore these David versus Goliath battles - and came up with a theory to explain why seemingly solid businesses suddenly lose market share... disruptive innovation. In his hit book, The Innovator's Dilemma, Christensen explored how flawed products from small companies can suddenly catch on, disrupt the market and steal customers from established corporations. Christensen - a life-long Boy Scout - was an odd champion for "disruptive innovation", but his ideas have totally changed the business landscape. Write to us at businesshistory@pushkin.fmSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Ida Tarbell: The "Muckraker" Who Beat John D Rockefeller and Big Oil
2w ago00:46:27Summary readyAt a time when women couldn't vote or freely enter the workplace, Ida Tarbell took on the richest man in America and triumphed. Ida grew up in the Pennsylvania oil fields of the 1870s, and saw how John D Rockefeller and his company Standard Oil bought or bullied independent firms. Ida's neighbors and even her own father were in Rockefeller's sights. In adulthood, Ida joined a new movement in journalism. She was a "muckraker" - looking to dig up dirt on the greedy and unscrupulous monopolies of the Gilded Age. She wrote a 19-part investigation of Standard Oil that became a nationwide hit and forced the US government to act and break Rockefeller's empire apart. Write to us at businesshistory@pushkin.fmSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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"Time is Money": How Ben Franklin's Sayings Created American Capitalism and Grind Culture
3w ago00:44:07Summary readyBenjamin Franklin had a full life - he was a scientist, statesman, and a Founding Father. But we're looking at the huge impact he had as a writer of best-selling business books. Franklin first picked up the pen as a poor, downtrodden teenager to write satire, but as he became richer and more successful he instead shared his entrepreneurial insights with the public. His sayings about time-wasting, thrift and the rewards of hard work were revolutionary. And both his admirers and critics claim his writings caused a profound global shift in how we think about work and wealth. Write to us at businesshistory@pushkin.fmSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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The Founding Father Who Got Rich in the Revolution
4w ago00:47:42Summary readyTwo-hundred-and-fifty years ago George Washington was fighting the Revolutionary War against the British, but Robert Morris doing something just as vital. He was raising money for the fighting and buying the gunpowder, tents, food and uniforms Washington's army needed. Morris had been a merchant before the revolution, so didn't see why he shouldn't personally profit from his work supplying the colonists' struggle. He emerged from the war as a rich man and owned huge tracts of land. But the turbulent final years of the 18th Century saw Morris go first into substantial debt and then fall into utter ruin. Write to us at businesshistory@pushkin.fmSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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The Dumbest Business Ever... Shipping Melting Ice to Calcutta.
May 2000:47:17Summary readyFrederic Tudor could get ice any time he wanted. He lived in chilly Boston and his family had a lake that froze over in the winter. Harvesting ice and storing it was a normal thing in New England in the 1800s, but Frederic decided he'd make a fortune if he could ship ice to the warmest places on earth. And everyone thought this was the dumbest business idea of all time! No one would back Frederic's plan - no one would even let him rent a ship to carry his ice. For decades he tried and failed to get his ice business running. He even ended up broke and in jail. But finally he prevailed and became a wealthy and celebrated figure - who changed the world. Write to us at businesshistory@pushkin.fmSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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From History Daily: John S. Pemberton Sells the First Glass of Coca-Cola
May 1500:15:36Summary readyHere's a preview of a show we think you'll like, History Daily. Every weekday, Lindsay Graham explores a momentous event that happened 'on this day' in history. Today: American pharmacist John S. Pemberton sells the first glass of Coca-Cola at a pharmacy in downtown Atlanta, a drink he originally bills as a cure-all tonic for the chronic pain caused by war and drug addiction.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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The Match Maker Who Nearly Burned Down Wall Street
May 1300:48:34Summary readySwedish entrepreneur Ivar Kreuger built a fortune selling matches. He used this money to build a world famous financial empire that bankrolled whole countries. France borrowed from Kreuger. Germany borrowed from Krueger. He was crowned "The Match King" and ruled Wall Street in the 1920s. But Kreuger's business was about to burn to the ground. The Swede had been using shady - even criminal - methods to move money around his empire and the good times came to an end. The discovery of Kreuger's crimes created chaos, but also proved pivotal in the creation of America's modern financial safeguards. Write to us at businesshistory@pushkin.fmSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Did "Neutron" Jack Welch Nuke GE?
May 600:53:23Summary readyIn 1999, Jack Welch was named "Manager of the Century". As CEO of General Electric for 20 years, Welch transformed the conglomerate and made it the biggest company in the world. Nicknamed "Neutron Jack", he closed down big chunks of old GE and set up new ventures... including GE Capital - which operated more like a bank than the wing of a manufacturing giant. Under the leadership of "Neutron Jack", General Electric was consistently profitable and seemed to be a safe investment... but in fact the company was headed for disaster. Write to us at businesshistory@pushkin.fmSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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The Widow Who Ruled the Champagne World
Apr 2900:40:40Summary readyRunning a wine business in Napoleonic France wasn't easy. Constant wars meant naval blockades stopped you exporting your wares and invading armies might loot your cellars. But it was even harder for women - who were forbidden to run companies. None of this stopped Barbe-Nicole Clicquot. When her husband died, she used a loophole that allowed widows to be entrepreneurs. Naming her Champagne brand after herself - Veuve Clicquot - the "Widow Clicquot" pioneered innovations in production and marketing that transformed the entire industry. Write to us at businesshistory@pushkin.fmSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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