Part of what is fascinating is that it seems like the risk of innovation is oftentimes so great that a sure and steady decline is the path selected by current companies. Simply put, legacy companies have more to lose!
Legacy companies have it hard in that even innovation might cannibalize their own products, further reducing the chances of growth. Meanwhile, breaking into new markets is always risky and time consuming (I’ve seen estimates that success rates are around 10-20% only). And there are growing headwinds in that consumers are growing skeptical of the need to consume more stuff.
Yes, this particular newsletter speaks to many of us in the industry.
While this example was not borne out of M&A, it still speaks to your comment about companies hallowing out to save costs. I have a colleague who's worked on coating applications ranging from food manufacturing to spacecraft in his previous job. Highly skilled and highly innovative. Why was he let go? Because the HR folks saw that he made no sales for the company. Despite pleas from his supervisor that sales was not part of his job description, my colleague was still let go. Their loss, our gain.
Thanks so much for writing about this!
Part of what is fascinating is that it seems like the risk of innovation is oftentimes so great that a sure and steady decline is the path selected by current companies. Simply put, legacy companies have more to lose!
Legacy companies have it hard in that even innovation might cannibalize their own products, further reducing the chances of growth. Meanwhile, breaking into new markets is always risky and time consuming (I’ve seen estimates that success rates are around 10-20% only). And there are growing headwinds in that consumers are growing skeptical of the need to consume more stuff.
Tony you continue to think about topics discussed near and dear to my colleagues and myself
Yes, this particular newsletter speaks to many of us in the industry.
While this example was not borne out of M&A, it still speaks to your comment about companies hallowing out to save costs. I have a colleague who's worked on coating applications ranging from food manufacturing to spacecraft in his previous job. Highly skilled and highly innovative. Why was he let go? Because the HR folks saw that he made no sales for the company. Despite pleas from his supervisor that sales was not part of his job description, my colleague was still let go. Their loss, our gain.