Entrepreneurs play a central role in economic growth and development, but how they do so is the subject of considerable debate. This book explains that process through an historical case study of an automobile insurance entrepreneur, Samuel P. Black, Jr., and Erie Insurance, the company he helped build. It also recounts the largely untold history of American automobile insurance. One of this study's central themes is the role of innovation in the entrepreneurial process. The rise of Erie Insurance from a four-person enterprise in Erie, Pennsylvania, in 1925 to the fourteenth largest property-casualty insurer today was the result, in part, of Black's relentless push to innovate. His continual efforts to cut costs, develop new products, satisfy customers, increase sales, and improve operations, all contributed greatly to the company's growth. A second theme is the automobile's dramatic impact on modern America. Its takeover of mass transportation provided the basis for the development of the automobile insurance industry and created many of the opportunities that Black and Erie Insurance capitalized on. These themes combine in the history of Black and Erie Insurance to illuminate the dynamic process by which the cultural, social, economic, and technological environment creates opportunities that entrepreneurs and entrepreneurial firms exploit, and how entrepreneurial actions stimulate economic growth.

Unconventional thinkers change the world. Instead of being celebrated, they are often ostracized. Theirs is the hero's journey - to set off on a path of self-discovery, a journey that leads to the expression of their unique gifts. On the path, they often encounter roadblocks or obstacle in the eight areas of life: relationships, career, health & fitness, spirituality, personal growth & development, inner technology, history, and family. In What is Your Roadblock to Fulfillment?, Pat Black brings ancient wisdom and unconventional thinking together and identifies techniques to release old patterns which may have served us at one point in our lives, but now have become roadblocks to our own growth, personal fulfillment, and societal contributions. Unconventional thinker turned entrepreneur and philanthropist Pat Black knows that escaping the traps of an analytical mindset and shedding childhood strategies are crucial steps towards the road to personal growth, but that there are many roadblocks to overcome along the road to fulfillment. Through his own observations along that path as founder of The Flourish Summit, an online community designed to empower unconventional thinkers to flourish in the conventional world, and president of The Black Family Foundation, an active partner in philanthropy and leader in helping build vital, prosperous, and sustainable enterprises, he has identified clear ways to overcome the obstacles to fulfillment. In What is Your Roadblock to Fulfillment?, unconventional thinkers will discover: The powerful processes Pat used to escape feeling alone, isolated, and outcast as an unconventional thinker Why trying to follow conventional wisdom instead of finding their own path isolates unconventional thinkers even more Steps you can use to identify and shed your own childhood survival strategies Ways to leash your inner unconventional thinker and flourish in life Buy your copy today to uncover your roadblocks to success and release them experientially.