Thanks for clicking to read a little more about founding and starting-up. I’d like to introduce you to one of the best combinations of Founding Father and start-up guy—Benjamin Franklin.

I hope you know some of the achievements of Franklin as a Founding Father. Though a late-comer to the cause of American independence, Franklin excelled at political and diplomatic strategy, the practical structures of political institutional design, and a grounding on the strongest civic lessons from failings in self-government in classical and contemporary history.

In addition to his service as a stateman—a lost term in today’s political world, I fear—Franklin was also outstanding as an inventor and innovator, a tinkerer of great practical gain. The public lending library, the stove, the catheter, the bifocal reading glasses, the volunteer fire department, the self-improvement club, the post office, the mass media magazine, the list of his everyday start-ups goes on and on. Oh, and then there’s electricity. Amazing.

Let’s you and I focus for a minute or two on Franklin’s role in his special combined talent of founding and starting-up. It’s the first community or public hospital in the colonial America and North America, for that matter. Pennsylvania Hospital, launched as a concept in 1750 and opening its door for patients in 1756.

Franklin was one of the original members of the board of directors of Pennsylvania Hospital. He was board secretary. Franklin’s role on the board was with his genius at promotion, public relations, and organizational strategy. He wrote and printed news stories in his newspapers that advocated for the proposed hospital. He connected hospital fund-raisers to other influential people in Philadelphia. He advised the board on how to approach the colony’s legislature for financial support.

Most intriguingly of all, Franklin decided that in the fourth year of the proposed concept he would write a “history” of the project. He used the document for additional public awareness and financial backing as well as strengthening the collective identity of the project’s chief supporters.

Through it all, Franklin kept his focus on crystallizing the project’s long-term value to patients, the community, and the medical profession itself. He helped conceive intricate day-to-day decisions and improvisation while bolting such actions firmly onto the far-reaching vision.

Founding Father and Start-Up Guy. Benjamin Franklin. How about you? Can you blend founding and starting up?