Part I — The story
The story
George Eastman transformed photography from a complex, expensive craft practised by professionals into something anyone could do, founding Kodak on the slogan 'You press the button, we do the rest'. By inventing roll film and a simple, affordable camera, he removed the technical barriers that had kept photography out of ordinary hands, creating a vast new mass market where none had existed — a classic case of democratising a gatekept capability.
Eastman's business model was prophetic: he sold cameras relatively cheaply to get them into people's hands, then made his profits on the film and processing they bought repeatedly — the 'razor-and-blades' model, decades before Gillette made it famous. He was also a pioneering philanthropist who gave away most of his fortune. He is a study in radical simplification to create a mass market, and in the razor-and-blades model of locking in recurring revenue through a cheap initial product.
Part II — The playbook
The playbook
Remove the barriers to a mass market
Eastman made photography simple and cheap enough for anyone.
Use the razor-and-blades model
Cheap cameras sold the film and processing that made the real profit.
Sell simplicity as the product
'You press the button, we do the rest' made ease itself the promise.
In their words
You press the button, we do the rest.
Nothing is more important than our customers' trust.
What we do during our working hours determines what we have; what we do in our leisure hours determines what we are.
What to read next
- George Eastman: A Biography — Elizabeth Brayer
Why this matters
The thinking behind these decisions connects to models you can study directly:
Frequently asked questions
How did George Eastman change photography?
By inventing roll film and a simple, affordable camera, he turned photography from an expert craft into something anyone could do — 'You press the button, we do the rest' — creating a vast new mass market.
What business model did Eastman pioneer?
Razor-and-blades — selling cameras cheaply to get them into people's hands, then profiting on the film and processing they bought repeatedly, decades before Gillette made the model famous.