{"type":"rich","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Transistor","provider_url":"https://transistor.fm","author_name":"Ventureology","title":"Chicago #4: The Catalog Kings","html":"<iframe width=\"100%\" height=\"180\" frameborder=\"no\" scrolling=\"no\" seamless src=\"https://share.transistor.fm/e/c6caaeca\"></iframe>","width":"100%","height":180,"duration":2982,"description":"How Ward, Sears & Roebuck Invented Modern Retail\nIn 1872, a traveling salesman named Aaron Montgomery Ward printed a single sheet of paper with 163 items and mailed it to forty members of a farmers' Grange. By 1913, more than half of every parcel mailed in the United States began as an order to one of two Chicago firms: Montgomery Ward and Sears, Roebuck. Neither owned a railroad. Neither owned a post office. They built the trust layer on top of infrastructure the public had already paid for, and captured the returns.\nThis is the story of how Ward, Richard Sears, and Julius Rosenwald invented modern retail.\n📧 Full written episode with source citations, maps, and data: https://ventureology.co/chicago-4-the-catalog-kings/\nThe first 100 paid subscribers get founding member pricing for life:\n- https://ventureology.co/founding-partner\n🎧 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ventureology/id1881214593\n🎧 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2Rvt9GARG2mXRM1apLWQVj\nCHAPTERS:\n03:26 — Act I: Ward, Sears & the Invention of Mail Order\n21:35 — Act II: The 1906 IPO and Infrastructure Capture\n35:15 — Modern Resonance: Walmart, Amazon & Shopify\n41:36 — The Investable Pattern","thumbnail_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/OiP8q7Q81_ZDuH8XIDSI52U4DeT83lEWYeMdw75hQr4/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:400/h:400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS9iNzNk/YjI1YmM5ZGQ2NjRh/MDk4YjU3Njg2ZWVh/YzM1Ny53ZWJw.webp","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300}