Students of the Innovator’s Dilemma know that a new technology starts out being just “good enough.” Often, an early solution only serves a niche part of the market with limited requirements. This naturally shields it from the incumbents’ radar, but what starts out as a nascent product attacking an unprofitable or unattractive market segment can quickly mature into a disruptive solution that becomes more than adequate for a broader population. …
It’s easy for incumbents – and everyone else – to forget how broadly and rapidly these solutions can evolve. Some of the most ‘powerful’ enterprise software on the market today started out as mere wedges, later transforming into meaningful and substantial platforms. Particularly for enterprises, it’s far better to evolve from something simple after learning about customer demands, than to pare down something insanely complex.
”Rise Of The Enterprise “Toys” | TechCrunch
If you make anything for the Internet (or make anything at all, really) I highly recommend this post from Aaron Levie, CEO and co-founder of Box.net for insights on product and brand evolution.
He’s talking here about disruptions in enterprise software, but he could be talking about any tech and any sector you can think of. The insight on new technology starting out being “just ‘good enough’” is one to remember. So often, we try to make things that are perfect, complex and clever. What we really need to do is ship and test what our users actually want.
