By now, most people know that one of Steve Jobs’ key insights in launching Apple came from wanting to build a computer that could replicate the artistic typefaces he learned about in a calligraphy class after dropping out of Reed College in the early 1970s.
Perhaps less well known is that John Mackey started Whole Foods out of an old Victorian house in Austin in 1978. His goal was not to make money per se — he leaned toward socialism at the time — but to help vegetarians sustain their healthy lifestyle.
Or take Fred Smith. The real impetus for launching FedEx came after serving as a Marine platoon leader — and later as an air controller — in Vietnam between 1967 and 1969. He saw how the military had perfected a ground-and-air logistics system that moved massive amounts of items large and small in a remarkably efficient way and decided to replicate the model for the private sector.
