Historically founders have created some of the world’s most important businesses from Standard Oil to Amazon to Genentech. Simply if you’re the initial designer of a business or anything in general, you’ll know the limits of the company and its technology and act appropriately. This might seem obvious but founders who set the initial conditions of a business and understand the underlying thesis have a good shot at creating something great. It doesn’t mean a non-founder cannot do great work at a given company, but the bar for them is definitely higher.

Inventors are consistently at the forefront of business but historically have trouble creating value from their work. Transformative business models often use a new technology to solve a problem that others could not. And enduring businesses are often open to new inventions and show a willingness to adopt new models. In this setting, inventors and their inventions have a important role to play in not only creating businesses but keeping them relevant.

Over the last few centuries, business models have undergone an incredible transformation: