Thales...an “old School” Entrepreneur

The Greek mathematician /philosopher, Thales was born around 624BC. Some thought him to be what we might call the original “absent-minded professor”. Plato tells of a time when Thales was walking along one night, studying the stars as he walked right into a canal. As a nearby servant girl came to the rescue, she asked how he could understand the mysteries of the stars, when he didn't even know what was under his feet. However, a different perspective of Thales of Miletus is offered by Aristotle.

He shares with the world a story of Thales evaluating the market opportunities and proactively assuring a major success. Thales often philosophized about the ills of being rich. Someone retorted that the only reason for this view was Thales was too lazy to make a success of himself. This reproach prompted him to attempt to dispel the thoughts once and for all, to demonstrate that one could make a success if that was the goal. The philosopher observed that the olive crop had been poor for a few years and undertook to research several cycles of the olive harvest. He determine a reliable pattern in his research, implying a bumper crop for the coming season. As olive oil was a critical commodity of the region, he prepared a business plan....to lease every olive press in the regions round about! Thales set about placing a deposit on ever single olive press.

The olive harvest was, indeed, a bounteous one. The olive growers went to have their crops pressed to obtain the precious oil, only to discover that the had to visit Thales. He could set whatever price he chose for his services, thus disproving his detractors and producing a massive fortune. What if the crop had been mediocre? It seems that he was still bound to profit from his monopoly even if the crop was small!