Bull & Baird: When Dreamers Dare
"Great moments are born from great opportunity." Herb Brooks, Head Coach, U.S. Olympic Team
As America approaches its 250th anniversary, it is worth remembering that our nation’s history has never been one of uninterrupted peace or prosperity. There have been plenty of challenges and setbacks along the way.
Yet time and again, we have found a way forward. Let’s talk about a group of dreamers who shocked the World.
I submit that the Miracle on Ice, on February 22, 1980, was one of the most meaningful moments in modern U.S. history. It was not just a hockey game, but a cultural touchstone that changed the way America thought about itself as it entered a new era.
At a time of doubt and division, that victory sparked pride, renewed hope, and reminded us who we are. It was more than a win; it became a symbol of courage, teamwork, and the American spirit.
That same spirit shows up far beyond sports. Jeff Bezos once said that the secret to American innovation, and its incredibly successful companies, is “risk capital.”
“It’s not our banking system. Europe has a good banking system. It’s that you can raise $50 million of seed capital for an idea that may have a 10% chance of succeeding. That’s crazy. Other nations have a very hard time replicating it.”
The same idea was at the heart of the Miracle on Ice. The U.S. team did not take the ice because the odds were in its favor. They took the ice because they believed there was still a path to win, and they were willing to risk everything to pursue it.
American innovation has always followed a similar logic.
America has long rewarded entrepreneurs and risk-takers. From our founders through figures like Walt Disney and Amelia Earhart, there is a recurring willingness in this country to take risks, build new things, and change the world. The internet, the airplane, the microchip, the telephone, the light bulb, and the assembly line, to name a few, were all created or advanced here and helped shape the future.
Here’s the best part: this happens regardless of who is in the White House or what is happening in the world. Howard Schultz helped transform a coffee company in Seattle, Washington, after joining Starbucks in the early 1980s. He did not wait for the perfect political or economic backdrop. He had an idea and pursued it.
He found investors and helped build a multibillion-dollar company around a product that had existed in Europe for centuries. It is just one example of American ingenuity, persistence, and risk-taking.
In the past 50 years, the United States has created 241 companies from scratch that are now worth more than $10 billion in market capitalization. That same number for Europe is 14.
Nvidia, Apple, Google, Chipotle, and Costco did not exist 50 years ago. Now, in 2026, we have Anthropic, SpaceX, and OpenAI. The capacity for American innovation remains extraordinary.
As the players sat in the locker room that day, knowing they were up against a formidable opponent, I imagine one thought was going through their minds.
We can win.
At their core, they were optimists. That optimism, paired with hard work, paid off in a moment we still talk about 46 years later.
Think of the American people over the last 250 years:
- The founders of this nation wanted to do something the world had never seen.
- The inventors and entrepreneurs of this nation wanted to build the future.
- The citizens of this nation wanted a better life for their families and were willing to invest their hard work and money to get it.
- The soldiers of this nation wanted to protect us all.
The thread that runs through all of them is optimism about the future: the belief that even when things seem challenging or chaotic, we can solve problems and move toward a brighter future.
Optimism about America helped turn a young country into one of the greatest nations in history, and it can continue to carry us forward for generations to come.
The “Miracle of America” is that, even through the chaos of our past, our resilience has helped us emerge as a global leader, a dominant economic power, and a historic creator of wealth.
On the 250th anniversary of our nation, that story is worth remembering. Not as a guarantee that the future will be easy, but as a reminder that optimism, innovation, and perseverance can continue to move us forward.
The information reflected in this post is an opinion and subject to change. Past performance is not a guarantee of future results. Diversification does not ensure profit or protect against loss. All investments have some level of risk, and investors have different time horizons, goals and risk tolerances. Speak to your Baird Financial Advisor before making investment decisions.
