Trippe’s strategy of nurturing P-type loonshots and betting on bigger, faster, more—with a dash of marketing glamour—worked brilliantly. Technology improvements lowered costs, providing more money to invest in more technology improvements. Larger planes flew more customers farther, faster. That virtuous cycle continuously grew his franchise, propelling Trippe far ahead of competitors, attracting fame and celebrity, just as a similar virtuous cycle would propel leading technology companies for the rest of the century, from Polaroid to IBM and Apple. P-type loonshots feed a growing franchise,
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