Is your startup disruptive?

Does a startup need to disrupt in or order for it to be successful? Some say yes, others say no. I have been quoted stating that if a startup isn’t disrupting, it isn’t thriving and if it isn’t thriving – it must be doomed to failure. For arguments sake I am not talking about the 35 year old accountant that has decided to consult and deems herself a startup. I am talking about a pure tech play startup.

 In order to disrupt you must innovate. Disruptive Innovation is a term defined and analyzed by Clayton Christensen. The question of whether a startup must be disrupting to succeed is a big debate. Is it important to create a new technology or product that solves a pain point? Yes. Is it important to upset market incumbents and create fundamental shifts in an industry? Absolutely and this is what disruption means at its core.

Disruptive technology is at the heart of all human kind’s advances. You wouldn’t be reading this on your mobile device if previous revolutions had not taken place. So to move the needle to excite the marketplace and thus excite investors one must disrupt.

Companies that disrupt aren’t an accident. It’s important to understand patterns, trends or gaps in the market. Does my startup fill a gap or identify a need based on a pattern or trend? Disruptive technologies evolve by filling a need in the market and this is why they are successful. They start as outliers because they are unique, the become part of our everyday lives because their need is so symmetric to our everyday lives.   

 Simplicity is they key behind a disruptive startup. It can grow exponentially – but the initial concept should be simple and solve a void or a problem in the market place that people want to use. And being a startup doesn’t necessarily mean doing something radically new.

 Uber is successful because it offers a crazy easy to access service that fills a need for instant transportation in cities where hailing a cab is often a painful and expensive experience. Is it a technology company? Is it a transportation company? Uber is all of those and more. But it began very simply and has grown. (UberFRESH, UberPARCEL and UberEATS are additional services Uber offers in various cities across the world.)

So you have identified a ridiculously unique disruptive concept. Now answer these questions.

1. What is being disrupted by your technology?
2. Is there resistance to using your technology?
3. Does your tech create the shortest path to the customer?
4. Do existing companies see you as a threat?
5. Is your startup truly different from the competition?
6. When you explain your company do people immediately see the need for it?
7. Is your technology affordable?
8. How will your disruptive startup make money?

 If you can answer yes to all of them then you are off to a good start.