Searching for the Gold — Entrepreneurs do it differently

Disclaimer: I’ve borrowed the book title of Ben Horowitz for the story below as the title & the summary of the book fits apt to this narrative.

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“GOLD! GOLD! I FOUND GOLD!” shouted Francisco Lopez, a native Californian in early 1842. Francisco couldn’t believe his luck. He wanted more!

He looked around the river. “Wow! More gold!”

He moved some rocks and found even more. “There’s gold everywhere!” he jumped up and down with excitement. He became a millionaire in a few weeks.

Francisco is recognized as one of the first people to find gold in Northern California. The word spread slowly at first. Then, a few years later, a San Francisco newspaper confirmed the opportunity and the word spread like wildfire. By 1849, the news had spread around the world. An overwhelming number of gold-seekers began to arrive from every continent. The famous name “forty-niners” originated from the approximately 90,000 people who arrived in California during this year, 1849.

Once the news spread, everything happened very quickly. There was no easy way to get to California. Forty-niners faced hardship and often death on their way to get there. Almost overnight, opportunities became abundant everywhere.