Edison's Dinner Demo
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A story about how Thomas Edison convinced government officials to allow electricity infrastructure in Manhattan through a dramatic dinner demonstration.
"I was reading about Thomas Edison. He had just invented the light bulb and knew it would work, but there was no power at the time. He said 'We can power it by putting up these wires that go from house to house to house.' The government was like 'No, we're not doing this.'
So one day he hosts a dinner and invites all these officials. When they arrive, there's no lamp so it's pitch black. They're sitting there thinking 'What are we doing?' Then he just flips the switch and boom - his lights come on automatically with waiters there ready to greet them.
He tells them 'This is how people are going to live from now on.' They respond 'Oh great, okay fine - we will allow you to put electricity throughout Manhattan in the smaller area to test it out.'
And that is how GE came to be eventually, along with a bunch of these companies that Thomas Edison was involved in."
Sam Parr
Host of MFM and fitness influencer
Sam Parr is a serial entrepreneur and business media pioneer.
In 2016, he founded The Hustle, a business news media company that started in his kitchen with just $12 and grew to eight figures in revenue.
Sam led the charge in making newsletters popular when few believed in their potential.
After four successful years, he sold The Hustle to HubSpot, a publicly traded company. Now operating as HubSpot Media, The Hustle reaches 3 million readers daily, employs a team of nearly 100, and has been the launchpad for dozens of its staff to found their own media companies and newsletters.
Sam remains the host of the popular business podcast, My First Million, and continues to start and sell companies. He also co-founded Hampton, a highly vetted community for entrepreneurs, founders, and CEOs, and teaches people to write better through his platform, Copy That.