Learning from Successful Disruptive Innovations

This stat really struck me: most breakthrough innovations come from executing existing ideas in new ways. Our first instinct when seeking change is often to look outward for something entirely new. New habits, new tech, complete overhauls, etc. But especially when we need to be cost-conscious, we need to embrace a different mindset. Look inward first. Scale what's working. Rigorously analyze what isn't – can you extract value or apply it differently? Innovation isn't always about the never-before-seen. It's often about leaning into what works, exploring all its uses, and sparking small wins into something transformational.   I saw this firsthand at HSN when we launched HSN Arcade. The idea was innovative, but simple: combine casual online gaming with ecommerce to create a fun “Watch, Shop, and Play” experience. It all started when I saw someone totally hooked on Candy Crush. That got me thinking, how can we integrate gamification into our platform using our brands and talent as personalities? In the process, we brought that same addictive, engaging experience into HSN’s digital platform. Not only was it highly engaging, but it also had a drastic impact on business performance. Players visited 3x more often, spent 3x more time on the platform, and spent 3x more money with us. And remember HSN Shop by Remote? It was groundbreaking, but at its core, it was about understanding our audience's growing desire for more convenient, accessible ways to shop. These weren’t just innovative projects, they were bold moves powered by a willingness to ask, “What if?” instead of panicking over “What now?”   So, let's not fall into the trap of believing that innovation demands a complete overhaul. Embrace the nuances within your existing frameworks. Cultivate a culture that thrives on smart experimentation. And most importantly, empower your teams to see the current ideas as the critical starting points for your next big breakthrough. They just might need to be explored and connected in a whole new way.

Disrupt to Rise: What AI's Latest Shakeup Teaches Executives About Moving Up The surprise success of China’s AI startup, DeepSeek, serves as a masterclass in disruption—one that executives aiming for advancement can learn from. DeepSeek, leveraging lower-cost, efficient AI models, has shaken up an industry dominated by giants like OpenAI and Meta. This is a textbook case of disruptive innovation, where a seemingly "inferior" alternative gains ground and challenges incumbents. Here’s what executives can take away from this moment: 1. Agility Beats Size DeepSeek’s rise wasn’t about having the most resources—it was about being nimble. It used open-source models, cheaper hardware, and more efficient architecture to outmaneuver expensive American AI giants. For executives, this underscores the power of adaptability. Climbing the corporate ladder isn't just about deep expertise; it's about spotting inefficiencies, pivoting quickly, and delivering results in smarter ways. 2. Master the Art of Strategic Positioning Much like DeepSeek focused on domain-specific AI before expanding, ambitious executives should find their unique niche before broadening their scope. Excel in a specialized area, build credibility, and then leverage that success to step into bigger roles. Don't compete head-on with the industry's "incumbents"—outflank them with a different, high-value approach. 3. Play the Long Game Disruptors don’t take over overnight, but they do shift the landscape over time. The same goes for career growth. Position yourself strategically, develop expertise, and keep refining your approach. The executives who invest in their adaptability, foresight, and network will be the ones leading the next wave of industry change. Just as AI's future belongs to those who innovate smartly, the corporate world rewards leaders who think ahead. The question is: will you be the disruptor—or the disrupted? If you are ready for the next executive level, let's talk.

Duke Rohlen built and sold 5 companies for $1.7B.  Here's how he's disrupting medical industry with his new model👇 Rohlen started a restaurant business at 22, scaling it to $20M+ in revenue. Post that, he went on an entrepreneurial journey in building medical devices. He built and sold 5 companies in the role of either Co-founder, CEO, MD, or Director. Today, he runs Ajax Health—a private equity platform backed by KKR. His playbook? To turn large, slow companies into lean, fast-moving venture portfolios. Take Cordis, for example → It was once stuck at $700M with slow growth and thin profit, but is now doing over $1B in annual sales after the acquisition of Ajax. Here’s how he is doing it👇 1./ Learnings from different industries Rohlen started in the restaurant industry, scaling and selling a successful chain before ever touching healthcare. But that outsider experience became his edge. He brought with him: • Operational rigor • Relentless efficiency • Customer-first thinking At Lumen, Fox Hollow, and CV Ingenuity (his earlier companies): he applied these same principles. As per him: “We needed a better way to balance capital efficiency and technological ambition.” 2./ New Venture and R&D Models After the acquisition of Cordis, he created “Cordis-X,” a venture arm under Ajax. Since most medtech innovation is either too risky or too slow, he fixes that by restructuring the innovation pipeline. He breaks development into three categories: • Transformative → Bold, high-risk tech • Synergistic → Enhancements to existing products • Incremental → Small but essential updates So, instead of betting everything on a moonshot, he blends all three. This approach blends bold bets with steady improvements, driving faster, lower-risk innovation without wasting capital. 3./ Focus on Capital Efficiency Rohlen’s model redesigns medtech innovation around two principles: • Strategic Budgeting • Hiring independent talent As per him: spending $100M on the wrong bet is career-ending. He focuses budgets on key inflection points, Ajax compresses timelines from 8 years to just 3.5, without cutting quality. There's also a smart talent trick in play. Instead of a traditional org chart, Rohlen uses a model where: - Cordis-X runs like an App Store.  - Engineers and entrepreneurs get scoped projects. - They have fixed budgets and upside in the outcome. This model removes the biggest blockers of capital inefficiency and bureaucracy. Ajax’s model didn’t stop at Cordis. They’ve partnered with multiple multibillion-dollar corporations, building custom growth engines inside each one. Why this works: ↳ Faster, de-risked innovation ↳ Legacy firms avoid disruption ↳ Entrepreneurial talent gets autonomy + support A story with tons of insights for both acquirers and founders.

Lessons from building a multi-billion dollar service at Amazon Web Services (AWS): As soon as I joined AWS, I was handed 8 people and asked to go disrupt data warehousing and transaction processing. I had just come from Oracle, which was the leader in both these spaces. I was thinking, “Gosh, how will I compete with somebody with a 30-year head start plus 5 millennia of development per year?” They had the lead AND were moving faster. There was no chance we could build a better service than them. So we decided to compete with non consumption instead of competing directly. We found people who weren’t using the existing services and figured out what mattered most to them. So with Aurora (one of the 2 initiatives), we took a completely different approach to how a database was fundamentally structured by distributing the storage, managing failures, increasing availability, etc. The low bar for Aurora was that it should be: - a lot better than the open-source alternatives and - a lot cheaper than Oracle. And the high bar was to over time, make it: - a lot cheaper than open source and - a lot better than Oracle within the realm of the things we cared about. With an average selling price of a dime an hour, we got a lot of people on our service that was easy and familiar to use, but had a fundamentally different architecture. That’s how, over a fairly short period, we managed to build a disruptive, multi-billion dollar service. Thus, the most important lesson I learned from my 8 years at AWS is: different is better than better. #SRE #devops #cloud

Many inventions fail because they ignore one simple truth: habits are hard to change. So why do some succeed? People often assume that solving a big problem is enough to guarantee success, but that’s only part of the story. The most impactful products also align with existing habits—and, over time, help shape new ones. A leader in the European access control industry once told me: “What you cannot change are habits.” That insight helped his company expand across many European countries. He used an understanding of different customer habits to succeed in each different market. In Italy, his best-selling intercom thrived because it perfectly aligned with local habits, but that same product struggled in Germany, where habits around intercom use were different. The lesson is that you can’t expect customers to change their behavior to match your solution. Products that succeed meet people where they are. Even the most revolutionary products that reshape habits start by solving pain points within existing behaviors. Two Examples: 1) Netflix Netflix started by aligning with the habit of renting DVDs, but they solved the pain point of driving to the video store. They also solved associated pain points like: → Limited selection at local stores → Annoying late fees Later, Netflix evolved to streaming, which solved even more problems like waiting for DVDs to arrive. However, this innovation still built on the habit of watching movies and TV at home. 2) The iPod Before the iPod, people already carried portable music devices like Walkmans and Discmans. But they struggled with bulky devices and limited storage. The iPod solved these pain points with “1000 songs in your pocket.” It aligned with a habit people already had and took it to the next level. If you’re creating something new, ask yourself: “Does it solve a real problem?” “Does it align with existing habits, or does it ask for too much change?” The most successful inventions meet users where they are, solving pain points first and then gently shaping new habits. What invention do you think nailed this balance?