While startups are determined to beat their industry’s 500 lb. gorilla, incumbents may never see their competition or get distracted by meeting next quarter’s sales goals. It’s often difficult to put in the time, money, and effort into something that may or may not show profitability two years down the road.”
-David Spark, Spark Media Solutions
Just because business is going well today, doesn’t mean it will continue that way in the future. Job and business security is a term of the past. Corporate size is no longer a guarantee that you won’t be disrupted. There are so many stories of established companies being upended by startups that they never saw coming. Think Blockbuster and Netflix, Boeing and SpaceX, the taxi industry and Uber.
Not only is corporate size not a form of protection, it can actually be detrimental. It’s often a lopsided competition against startups that aren’t beholden to stockholders, profit margins, existing customers, and existing product lines. While startups are often in a “do or die” battle for survival, they can focus all their efforts on innovating to beat the incumbent.
While startups are determined to beat their industry’s 500 lb. gorilla, incumbents may never see their competition or get distracted by meeting next quarter’s sales goals. It’s often difficult to put in the time, money, and effort into something that may or may not show profitability two years down the road. Innovative projects are often shelved or not funded for what are seen as “sure bets” that will pay off sooner.
It’s hard not to go for the easy money, but that easy money could truly evaporate if you don’t push to innovate and potentially disrupt your own business model.
At this year’s 2018 IRI Annual Conference, I interviewed two dozen industry experts on the hottest trends in innovation. I wrapped up the nine best ones and present it to you in this end of show report. Let me know what you think. Do you agree, disagree, think I missed some really important trends? Let me and the Xinova team know in the comments below. These are the top trends in innovation.
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