There is an old truth that history books often overlook: capital made the deals, and fools created the innovations. It was never the banker who invented the car, the computer, or the microchip. It was never the financier who saw how electricity could light every home. No – it was always a fool: a stubborn, often eccentric person with an idea no one else believed in.
And yet, without capital, the world would never have seen their visions. This created a dynamic: the mad idea and the cold deal. Together, they shaped the world we live in.
The First Fools of the 20th Century – Steel, Fire, and Imagination
Let’s begin with Henry Ford. He was an engineer, but above all, he was stubborn. When the car industry in the 1910s was considered a luxury for the rich, Ford decided the automobile should be for the masses. He created the assembly line – an idea as simple as it was insane. Critics laughed – who would want to buy a “carriage without a horse”? Capital doubted him for a long time. But when the Model T began rolling onto the roads and ordinary people could afford to own a car, everything changed. Capital came running.
Then there was Thomas Edison. Not just an inventor, but a showman. He sold the light bulb as if it were magic. Behind him stood J.P. Morgan – the cold hand of capital – who turned Edison’s lamp into a business by building power grids in the cities.
And Nikola Tesla. Perhaps the greatest fool of them all. He saw the world in frequencies, dreamed of wireless energy and free resources for humanity. But capital abandoned him. He died poor and forgotten in a New York hotel room. His ideas lived on, but without business. Tesla became the symbol that madness alone is not enough – without capital, even the most beautiful visions fade.
The Postwar Era – The Industry of Culture and Dreams
After World War II came a new generation of fools. Walt Disney built an empire on something as irrational as animated mice and ducks. Capital didn’t believe in him at first, but when audiences loved the films, Disney became an institution.
Meanwhile, the aviation industry took off. Boeing and others were driven by engineers who wanted to conquer the skies. Their “madness” shrank the world. Capital saw the potential and poured in money – flight became a global industry.
Here, too, we see a shift: innovation was no longer only about machines. It was about experiences, culture, and lifestyle.
Silicon Valley – The Gods of the Garage
Fast forward to the 1970s and 80s. A new kind of fool appeared: the computer nerd.
Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak built their first computers in a garage. Bill Gates wrote software no one thought had value – who would ever buy a program? Jobs dreamed of the computer as a “bicycle for the mind.” Gates dreamed of a PC on every desk.
Capital shook its head, but when sales skyrocketed, Silicon Valley became synonymous with venture capital. For the first time, capital didn’t just tolerate fools – it chased them.
Internet and the Mobile Phone – The Digital Explosion
By the early 2000s, the internet exploded. Mark Zuckerberg built a social network for students. Larry Page and Sergey Brin created a search engine in a garage. Elon Musk launched PayPal.
Capital was now more risk-friendly. Investors realized it could pay off to throw money at young fools in hoodies. Thus, the “unicorn” was born – startups valued at over a billion dollars.
Innovation became digital, no longer physical. The world moved into the screen.
The AI Revolution – Today’s Fools
And then we arrive at the present. AI.
Here, something new happens. The old patterns still apply, but with a twist. Innovators are no longer just crazy outsiders. They are also insiders in the world of capital.
Sam Altman, the face of OpenAI, is both visionary and investor. Demis Hassabis at DeepMind is the researcher who also knows how to play Google’s corporate game. Elon Musk straddles the line between fool and businessman. And Jensen Huang at NVIDIA built the hardware that makes AI possible – and became one of the stock market’s biggest winners.
The fools of AI are thus more systematic. They are scientists, engineers, but also skilled business strategists. There is no modern-day Tesla dying poor in a hotel room. Instead, companies are worth hundreds of billions before the vision is even complete. Capital no longer follows – it leads.
Tomorrow’s Fools – Who Are They?
So the question becomes: if AI is already owned by capital, who are tomorrow’s fools?
I believe they can be found in several places:
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The Seniors
Those who carry decades of experience and now gain AI as a magnifying glass. They’ve seen the world change, they understand systems, people, and processes – and with AI, their ideas can finally become reality. Their power is not just to think new, but to think wisely. -
The Outsider in the Periphery
The young programmer in Lagos, the female entrepreneur in Bangalore, the school-weary 16-year-old in Brazil playing with AI models. Here lie tomorrow’s unexpected leaps. -
The Artist
The musician, the poet, the designer who uses AI not to replace creativity, but to multiply it. Their foolishness is daring to think beyond productivity and ROI – to create something that cannot be measured in money. -
The Practical Visionaries
Those who use AI to solve healthcare crises, educational inequality, or climate change. In a world where many only see AI as a faster way to write emails, these fools will be the true pioneers. -
The Digital Fools
And maybe, just maybe, some of tomorrow’s fools won’t even be human. AI agents that begin creating new systems and solutions beyond our comprehension. Then we face a new balance: capital makes the deal – but is the fool an algorithm?
Conclusion – The Future of Foolishness
Looking back from Ford to Jobs, from Edison to Altman, one thing is clear: the world has always been shaped by a struggle between the mad idea and the cold calculation.
Without the fool, there is no spark. Without capital, the fire never spreads.
But in the age of AI, something new is happening. Capital and the fool have merged. Today’s innovator is both scientist, entrepreneur, and investor. The question is: does this leave room for the truly mad, those who dare to dream beyond business?
Perhaps the greatest fool of tomorrow will be the one who dares to say:
“AI is not the endgame. It is only another tool. Our true innovation will be to reinvent what it means to be human.”
By Chris...
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