In 1903, the origins of Monopoly began as a social experiment.
Today, it is a brand for eternity passed on from generation to generation.

🏫 What can we learn from it?
A lot. Especially if you’re building a start-up and don’t want to end up like Lizzie Magie.
We’ve all heard the popular story: Charles Darrow invented Monopoly during the Great Depression and became a millionaire.
But that’s not the full truth.
Decades earlier, Lizzie Magie, a feminist writer created The Landlord’s Game.
It looked and played strikingly similar to today’s Monopoly, but its purpose was very different: it was designed to demonstrate the benefits of Henry George’s Single Tax theory and to expose the social damage caused by monopolistic land ownership. So far, so good.
🥳 Now, for more than 85 years already, Monopoly has brought friends and families together, creating millions of shared memories around kitchen tables worldwide. The game itself has never changed, it was only revitalized many times and today we have a ton of «limited editions». For me, the James 🔫 Bond edition is actually the coolest : License to kill…
And this is also how brands travel over time.
At Capo d’Ena, we help leaders develop scenarios, design strategies, and open doors through our global network. We act as matchmakers and guardians establishing brand architectures that remain rock-solid as you grow and when business takes-off.
Ideas don’t flourish on their own. Any idea thrives through the structures that carry it: the brand rules, the ownership, the governance around it. When those elements change, meaning evolves with them – and gets lost occasionally.
Protect your ideas through patents, a crystal-clear business model, non-negotiable brand management, and sharp positioning. Direction must be preserved as you scale, or someone else will take it from you and rewrite the story. Better playfully manage soaring-up your business.
The most important aspects of marketing are still the same: People and businesses alike make decisions based on trust, orientation and a meaning. The relevance of storytelling and value adding statements is still growing. At Capo d’Ena we call this the “so what”.
🔦 This matters most for start-ups and if you don’t want to end up like Lizzie Magie.
You only live twice, let’s roll the dice! (wait for a better poem…)