Disrupt

This book really changed the way of how I had perceived entrepreneurship. In a business world of nonstop change, there's only one way to win the game: Transform it entirely would Luke Williams say. I would like to share one of the disruptive business ideas we are talking about and I am sure that you'll learn why the most unexpected ideas draw the least competitors. In 2003, Jonah Staw was having dinner with some friends in a trendy restaurant in San Francisco when the discussion turned to what he calls “disruptive business ideas.” Suggestions were flying left and right, and at one point, someone asked, “How crazy would it be if some company started selling socks that didn’t match?” Everyone thought it was a terrible idea — not particularly practical, certainly not useful, and difficult to own — and they moved on. Everyone, that is, except Jonah, who couldn’t get the idea of mismatched socks out of his head. In his view, the sock category was lazy and boring; we’re still buying and wearing socks the same way we have for decades. And, how many times have you lost one sock and had to toss the matching one? — In this disrupt way was the disruptive idea of Little Miss Matched generated. In late 2008, Little Miss Matched did a large deal with Macy’s and closed a $17 million funding round. With 6 retail stores and over 150 employees, Jonah and his partners are a long way from where they started 5 years earlier.

So, what was the problem that the solution addressed? Well, there wasn’t any problem, and that’s exactly the point. Most people in business are trained to focus only on problems: things that don’t work and need fixing. It’s more effective to start by identifying something in your business or industry that’s not necessarily a problem, and try to play with imagination about how to scrutinize it...