The classic book on this is "Electrical Manufacturers 1875-1900".[1] Published by the Harvard Business School, it has Edison's business plan for the Pearl Street station. As I recall, the plan claimed the investment would be paid back in 18 months. It took twice that long.
It was very much a startup. Then came consolidation and mergers, resulting in General Electric.
It's in the Stanford libraries, or at least was when I read it years ago.
Also useful is "Men and Volts", an official history of General Electric.[2]
From an investment perspective, it's worth reading the early history of the electrical industry, because it's very much like the history of the computer industry. Just a century earlier. You get to see something go from cutting edge technology with high margins to dull and boring with low margins, over half a century. You get to see the transition from thousands of little companies to a few big ones.
As you keep going into the radio era, you see the transition from paid services to ad-supported ones.
It will all look very familiar.
Comments
The classic book on this is "Electrical Manufacturers 1875-1900".[1] Published by the Harvard Business School, it has Edison's business plan for the Pearl Street station. As I recall, the plan claimed the investment would be paid back in 18 months. It took twice that long.
It was very much a startup. Then came consolidation and mergers, resulting in General Electric.
[1] https://www.amazon.com/Electrical-Manufactures-1875-1900-Com...
Link didn't work, would love to get that book.
Better URL. [1]
It's in the Stanford libraries, or at least was when I read it years ago.
Also useful is "Men and Volts", an official history of General Electric.[2]
From an investment perspective, it's worth reading the early history of the electrical industry, because it's very much like the history of the computer industry. Just a century earlier. You get to see something go from cutting edge technology with high margins to dull and boring with low margins, over half a century. You get to see the transition from thousands of little companies to a few big ones.
As you keep going into the radio era, you see the transition from paid services to ad-supported ones. It will all look very familiar.
[1] https://www.amazon.com/Electrical-Manufacturers-1875-1900-St...
[2] https://www.amazon.com/Men-volts-story-General-electric/dp/B...
There you are, available in the Library:
https://archive.org/details/electricalmanufa0000unse
Do not forget about the library in Archive.org ...