Ben Franklin

Phillypreneur lessons from Ben: No Capital is No Excuse

posted by David Speers  |  Comments (1)

ben franklin money

The following is an excerpt from Bizcovering’s inspiring article on Six Excuses That Must be Discarded to Become a Millionaire.

Here’s my favorite example from Excuse #3: I Have No Capital

Another poor man who captured the world’s imagination was Benjamin Franklin, American statesman, writer and inventor. He was the youngest child in the brood of 16. Though his parents owned a candle shop in Boston, Massachusetts, the mean income could not support comfortably with the whole family. Young Benjamin did not think much of food and what to eat because he had been told not to do so, he hardly eat delicious food. His older siblings had large appetite and would jam the table even before Ben could occupy his chair. When he realized that his father could no longer afford to send him to school, he decided to work in his brother’s printing shop. Much of his earnings went to books. He adored poetry and short stories. Amidst poverty, young Ben dreamed big things; he practiced writing, though he did not know the very basic of that profession. Then his brother started beating him cruelly, this prompted Ben to run away, with little bucks left in his pocket, he stole down to Boston harbor and went to New York City. Ben had nothing except clean t-shirt and the pants he wore. In New York, he was not accepted for any work, so he went to Philadelphia, because he had no money to pay for the transportation, he endured the long miles walking the rocky roads and sleeping at the fields at night, by the time he reached Philadelphia he was tired, dirty and hungry.

Benjamin accepted odd jobs and work day and night until he earned enough money to support his schooling. Later in his colorful journey, he founded his own printing shop, invented the first gas stove, published stories and became America’s most celebrated statesman.(trivia: When Benjamin owned a company, he noticed a young man, 14 years his junior, who was prone to failures despite his aggressiveness in work, though this young man armed with undisputed talent, intellect and strengths, he was easily intimidated and discouraged with slightest mistakes. Benjamin decided to train this man and making his own struggles in life as example, he taught him how to conquer odds, the result was remarkable, this man became an asset of the company which later on made him a successful professional, he later on quit his job and joined politics, but the great lesson Benjamin Franklin taught him never fade in his mind and he used it as his springboard as he soared high in his career. That young man was none other than James Madison, who became the fourth US President. It’s amazing to know that his great teacher in life was a poor stow away boy from Boston who once endured walking a rocky road, tired and dirty just to reach his dreams.

david Dave Speers is an online marketing consultant and blogger that has worked with a wide variety of Philadelphia Start-Ups . Dave spends most his time annoying really smart people at Indy Hall co-working collaborative.

Ben Franklin Down Under?

posted by David Speers  |  Comments (0)

No, Ben Franklin never made it to Australia in his life time.(in fact during BF’s day it was known as New South Whales and had only been visited by a handful of bold/slightly-insane explorers). However, almost 250 years later he has once again proven his power as America’s most effective diplomat in a glowing article by Australia’s own Daily Reckoning.

Our favorite tidbit:

“Finally, Franklin was ahead of his time in financing good causes with his business profits. He was civil minded early in his career, helping to finance the first fire company, the nation’s oldest property insurance company, and Philadelphia’s own hospital, library and militia. “America’s first entrepreneur may well be our finest one,” concludes John Bogle.

Business executives would do well to live up to the epitaph Benjamin Franklin once described to a friend: ‘The years roll round and the last will come; when I would rather have it said, He lived usefully, than he died rich.’”

Read the entire article on BF from an Aussie perspective .

david Dave Speers is an online marketing consultant and blogger that has worked with a wide variety of Philadelphia Start-Ups . Dave spends most his time annoying really smart people at Indy Hall co-working collaborative.

Ben Franklin: America’s Entrepreneur

posted by David Speers  |  Comments (0)

“While many of America’s founding fathers were business owners, one in particular stood out as one of history’s greatest entrepreneurs: Benjamin Franklin. His many useful inventions include bifocals, an odometer, the lightning rod, swim fins, watertight bulkheads for ships, and the wood stove.” courtesy of Ben Franklin 300

3 Franklin Facts:

  1. Franklin didn’t patent any of his inventions or scientific discoveries, since he believed that everyone should be able to freely benefit from scientific progress. In this way, he was sort of an eighteenth century open-source advocate.
  2. Franklin organized weekly meetings of a small group of other tradesmen and artisans, called a Junto. At their weekly meetings they asked how they “may be serviceable to mankind? Junto is still meeting to this day. (link to Junto)
  3. Franklin noticed that almost a third of his fellow settlers in Pennsylvania were German-speakers, and promptly launched the Philadelphische Zeitung – the first newspaper printed in German in the colonies.

david Dave Speers is an online marketing consultant and blogger that has worked with a wide variety of Philadelphia Start-Ups . Dave spends most his time annoying really smart people at Indy Hall co-working collaborative.