Big megacorps suck at innovation. Their internally developed product innovations are typically crap.
This comes as a surprise for companies like Facebook because they were once internet startups. They still see themselves as youthful and innovative. Wearing T-shirt or being casual may correlate with innovation, but there is no causality. The founder/CEO had success with one big idea that turned into success. What evidence there is that they can recognize and repeat the success multiple times?
They can successfully refine and expand their original idea and grow it, but their internally developed 'disruptions' are crap just like any random pitch.
Microsoft, Facebook, Apple, Google, Amazon buy new ideas, then use the economics of scale and network effects to make it success. Amazon has expanded the idea of internet retail from books to everything, including data centers. Apple finds success in design and branding competence. Google is still search and advertising company.
Agree with your general point but I think Apple and Amazon are clear examples of big corps that have continued to innovate. My hypothesis is that companies with CEOs able to stay close to the end users and keep a product focus are able to counterbalance the main problem with big companies - that their decision makers are no longer close to their customers. I think they’re exceptions though.
But a few obvious massive innovations from both once established as large companies: Kindle, Alexa, AWS, iMac, iTunes, iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch. AWS alone is enough of a counterexample to make my point.
>Xerox PARC has been in large part responsible for such developments as laser printing, Ethernet, the modern personal computer, graphical user interface (GUI) and desktop paradigm, object-oriented programming, ubiquitous computing, electronic paper, amorphous silicon (a-Si) applications, the mouse and advancing very-large-scale integration (VLSI) for semiconductors.
See also iPhones, Waymo cars etc. I think the trick is to have one or two smart and focused people in charge of the innovation left largely to do their thing rather than committees and bureaucracy.
This comes as a surprise for companies like Facebook because they were once internet startups. They still see themselves as youthful and innovative. Wearing T-shirt or being casual may correlate with innovation, but there is no causality. The founder/CEO had success with one big idea that turned into success. What evidence there is that they can recognize and repeat the success multiple times?
They can successfully refine and expand their original idea and grow it, but their internally developed 'disruptions' are crap just like any random pitch.
Microsoft, Facebook, Apple, Google, Amazon buy new ideas, then use the economics of scale and network effects to make it success. Amazon has expanded the idea of internet retail from books to everything, including data centers. Apple finds success in design and branding competence. Google is still search and advertising company.