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> Any company that happened to invest creatively in tech during that era became unfathomably wealthy.

Except countless companies did - many went out of business, and few became Googles.

The historical context is essential but there are so many factors that set them apart.

Indeed countless companies went under investing in tech, on various iterations of the exact things that later became enormously successful, e.g. iPhone. Success is only guaranteed in retrospect.

It’s more than money - you need people making the right technology and product decisions. For smartphones that was clearly the case - not that apple just dumped in more money.

"The early bird gets the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese."

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