Francisco Pizarro's initial success was built on a partnership with Diego de Almagro. By negotiating a vastly superior royal deal for himself, he sowed the seeds of a bitter rivalry. This internal feud between the co-founders would fester and ultimately prove fatal to their entire enterprise and their lives.
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The Spanish didn't defeat the Inca Empire at its height. They arrived after a smallpox epidemic killed the emperor and a subsequent brutal civil war between his sons shattered the empire. This left the civilization politically fractured and militarily exhausted, making it ripe for conquest by a small force.
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Facing mutiny, Francisco Pizarro drew a line in the sand, offering a stark choice between returning to poverty or pursuing riches through extreme hardship. This dramatic act served as a powerful filter, weeding out the uncommitted and forging an intensely loyal core group—the "Famous 13"—who would stick with him through anything.
Co-founder conflict often arises when one founder (e.g., go-to-market) has deep customer exposure while the other (e.g., technical) operates on secondhand information. This "context gap" leads to strategic misalignment and frustration, causing teams to split.
Conquistador expeditions were entrepreneurial ventures, not state campaigns. Leaders like Pizarro formed partnerships, raised private funds, and invested in high-risk "island hopping" operations hoping for massive returns. This model privatized both the risk of failure and the rewards of success, mirroring modern venture capital.
The conquest of the Americas was a highly legalistic endeavor. Conquistadors sought official royal charters, essentially operating under a franchise model. This legal cover was crucial not for legitimacy with the natives, but to protect their claims from rival Spanish adventurers, blending brute force with bureaucratic procedure.
Francisco Pizarro's invasion of Peru was heavily influenced by the recent success of his cousin, Hernán Cortés, in Mexico. The fall of the Aztecs provided a tangible model for conquest, proving that small bands of conquistadors could topple vast empires. This precedent made it easier for Pizarro to secure funding and royal support.
Unlike peers seeking wealth, the illiterate Francisco Pizarro was driven by a thirst for glory. This personal ambition, rather than simple greed, fueled his relentless expeditions at an age when most conquistadors had retired, demonstrating that non-material motivations can drive extreme risk-taking.