observe, imagine and build the bridge
the only things you need to do as an entrepreneur
There is a current state - this is how the world currently works,
and there is a future state - how you think the world should work.
The gap between the current and future states is the 'problem'.
If you solve this problem, you're moving the world from the current state to the future state.
As an entrepreneur or startup founder, you need to be two things:
observant;
and imaginative.
You need to observe the current state of the world,
and you need to imagine the future state of the world.
Then, you need to bridge this gap.
In doing so, you solve the problem and create your imagined future state.
Sometimes, the bridge you create is valuable; sometimes, it's not.
Sometimes it's revolutionary; sometimes it's not.
Sometimes, people will clamour to get across this bridge to the future state;
sometimes, your bridge echoes with the footsteps that never came.
Sometimes, people will marvel at the bridge you architected;
sometimes, people scorn, sneer and scoff at your bridge.
There are bridges all around you.
You have to take the time to notice them.
All of these bridges make up what we call 'life'.
These bridges were created by someone at some point in time.
Automobiles are a great example of a bridge that we take for granted in our daily lives.
Before cars were mass-produced, horses were the main form of transportation.
Horses are great.
They are faster than humans,
they are stronger than humans,
and they are economical - you don't have to pay a horse for their service.
In the 1900s, they were used to move people and goods across long distances,
and they made the world a smaller place.
Cities, villages and towns were now more accessible than ever before.
If you were living in the 1900s, this was the current state of the world.
Let's call it State A.
People were happy with State A, and it's totally understandable why.
Before state A, you'd have to walk on foot and carry your heavy pieces of baggage with you.
If you were travelling long distances,
then you risked illnesses,
you risked getting robbed,
and you risked potentially death.
With horses, you could travel with ease and get to your destination alive.
Automobiles existed then, but their production was manual and time-consuming.
It was inaccessible, and only the wealthy elite could afford them.
However, one man wasn't satisfied with this current state.
This man envisioned a different future state of the world - State B.
He imagined a world on wheels
and built a bridge to this future state with the Model T.
This man was Henry Ford.
Henry Ford was born on July 30, 1863, in Michigan.
From a young age, he displayed a keen interest in mechanics.
At 12, he spent most of his spare time in a spare machine shop.
By 15, he had constructed his first steam engine.
At 16, he became an apprentice machinist.
By 28, he was hired as an engineer at the Edison Illuminating Company of Detroit.
At 30, he was promoted to Chief Engineer in the same company.
By 32, he had completed his first self-propelled vehicle, the Quadricycle.
At 36, he founded his first automotive venture, the Detroit Automobile Company.
By 39, he founded the Ford Motor Company.
At 45, he introduced the Model T,
and at 50, he implemented the moving assembly line, which revolutionised automobile production.
Henry observed the current state - State A- and wasn't satisfied with it.
He imagined a different future state - State B.
He wanted to "put the world on wheels" - a world where every family could own a car.
He noticed the gap between the different states and built a bridge.
His bridge was so revolutionary that people couldn't wait to cross it.
They wanted the Model T; by 1927, he had sold over 15 million cars.
This represented about one car for every 8 people in the US at that time.
Henry was special.
Not only did he have the vision to see the future state,
but he also had the means to create it.
His early experiences at the spare machine shop,
at the Edison Illuminating Company,
and Detroit Automobile Company gave him the tools required to construct this bridge.
You can be an entrepreneur like Henry - anyone can.
Observe,
imagine,
and build the bridge.
“If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses.”
– Henry Ford did not say this