this post was submitted on 15 Mar 2024
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Ever hear of the giant insurance company, Lloyd's of London. It started as a coffee house.
Back in the day, many people used coffee houses as their business office. Houses and streets were unmarked, and inviting a stranger to your home could be problematic. Meeting and making a deal at the coffee house was safer and simpler. Without a central post office, it was a lot easier to send a letter to 'John Doe care of Lloyd's' than to expect it to find your house.
Pretty soon, folks got the idea of setting up companies to invest in ships to the New World. If one guy invested all his money in one ship, there was a reasonable chance that it would sink. If he got together with nine other people they could send out ten ships, and if only two made it back they'd still read a profit.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lloyd%27s_of_London