I read an interesting story about Ole Evinrude. He'd taken his girlfriend, Bess, on a picnic on an island near Milwaukee. She said something about liking ice cream so he hopped in the rowboat and went for some. It melted on the way back, of course, but he got to thinking that there had to be a better way than rowing to move a small boat. He went to work and over several years developed the 1st outboard. He married Bess and started the company with him doing the machinist work while she essentially ran the company. It was an instant success and the market was huge with no competition at the beginning.
