The Innovator’s Dilemma
by Clayton Christensen · 1997
Why great companies fail at disruptive technology.
About
Christensen’s study of why well-run incumbents lose to disruptive entrants, and what that means for startups.
Official summary
The very practices that make incumbents successful - listening to their best customers and chasing higher margins - cause them to ignore disruptive technologies that begin in low-end or new markets, until those disruptors improve enough to overtake them from below.
Why it’s an important read
It explains where startup opportunity actually comes from: the low-end and new-market footholds incumbents are structurally unable to defend.
