Fred smith was in yale university & had an idea of overnight delivery service which was reliable. He had a great plan & wrote down the idea in great detail & presented the same to his professor. His professor gave him a 'C" for his submission. 3/8
What the professor commented about the whole idea was "The concept is interesting & well-formed, but in order to earn better than a ‘C’, the idea must be feasible.” 4/8
In 1973, they had $80 million in funding & started the company. Shortly they started delivering to 25 cities but things were not easy. They struggled & finished the whole $80 million they got as funding. In his first 26 months in business he racks up $29 million in losses 5/8
Gradually things got so serious that once, one of their pilots used a personal credit card to pay for landing fees. Then, in another instance one of their couriers hocked his watch to buy fuel for his delivery van 6/8
At one point,the situation turned so bad that it became impossible to operate.They only had $5000 in their account & the fuel guys for the plane were at their gates asking for $24000. Fred had to take a decision fast & so he decided to gamble w/the $5000 he had in his account 7/8
Yes.. he went to #LasVegas to play #blackjack but then lady luck was on his side. he came back w/ $27000.
After a week, he was able to raise $11 million & then things started to get stable. In 1976, he posted his first profit of $3.6million. As they say rest is history 🙏8/8
After a week, he was able to raise $11 million & then things started to get stable. In 1976, he posted his first profit of $3.6million. As they say rest is history 🙏8/8
