When we think of firms, we think of big faceless corporate entities that have the right of freedom of speech (in the United States, thanks to the Supreme Court), possibly the right to bear arms, and possibly the right to self-defense with lethal force. Yet firms need not be big, nor do they need to have shares that can be purchased on the open market. They do not even have to involve limited liability. In this book, I will refer to firms in the broadest possible sense – they are groups of individuals who work together to achieve a common goal. Your neighborhood coffee shop fits this definition, and so does Microsoft. Firms can have one owner – or a million different shareholders. In the end, they are a collection of individuals working together.