East India Co. History's Most Ruthless Start-up

If ever you wanted to see the shape of the future, the best place would have been in Founders' Hall in the City of London on Sept. 24, 1599. There in this old merchants' hall (founders meant brassfounders, not founding fathers) were assembled more than 100 of the City's richest merchants and sea captains, all primed to subscribe large sums ranging from £100 to £3,000 for the greatest startup in history. Among those present were the unstoppable explorer William Baffin and the great colonial booster Richard Hakluyt. The company they were all there to promote was “to venter in the pretended voiage to ye East Indies and other Ilands and Cuntries thereabouts to make trade . . . by buying or bartering of suche goodes, wares, jewelles or merchaundize as those Ilands or Cuntries may yeld or afforthe . . . (the which . . . it maie please the Lorde to prosper).”