The New Nature of Business

Chapter 1The Myth of the Founder and a Company's Capitals

My great-grandfather, Fritz Hoffmann-La Roche, was a visionary entrepreneur. From 1896, he pioneered the nascent pharmaceutical industry, overcoming countless hurdles and challenges. He even nearly went bankrupt. But by the time he died, he had built a multinational corporation that still operates today as one of the largest and most impactful pharmaceutical companies in the world.

I love to look back on this story. And yet there's a problem with it. This story is too much centered on the achievements of one person.

We often hear business success is the result of individual genius, entrepreneurship, and persistence. We are told that founders are a special breed, and different from us. That they see solutions where others see obstacles. That they see the future, where we can only see the present. And that they succeed, not because of circumstances, but because they are destined to win and do what it takes to fulfill this destiny.

We know this myth not just from my great-grandfather but also from some of the world's richest men of today, such as Elon Musk, Bill Gates, and other Silicon Valley billionaires. Musk cofounded PayPal, predicting the future of online payments. He also cofounded the electric vehicle pioneer Tesla and turned it into the most valuable car company in the world. And he continues his entrepreneurial ventures today with companies such as SpaceX, Neuralink, and xAI, pioneering everything from space industry ...