“In recent years, Harvard Business School professor Clayton Christensen has gained a reputation for his work on “disruptive innovations” — products or systems that create entirely new markets. Christensen’s research explains why established companies — even those competently managed by smart people — have such trouble countering or embracing disruptive innovations that are on the horizon. His theory is that organizations customarily develop mind-sets and processes that revolve around doing what they already know. Once that pattern becomes established, managers have great difficulty justifying to others or even themselves the need to turn their processes upside down to respond to a barely emergent market change. By the time the threat is apparent, however, it’s usually too late; upstart companies have seized a substantial lead.”

“Old-line stalwarts, such as housing and autos, are offsetting tech’s slide.”

“In recent years, Harvard Business School professor Clayton Christensen has gained a reputation for his work on “disruptive innovations” — products or systems that create entirely new markets. Christensen’s research explains why established companies — even those competently managed by smart people — have such trouble countering or embracing disruptive innovations that are on the horizon. His theory is that organizations customarily develop mind-sets and processes that revolve around doing what they already know. Once that pattern becomes established, managers have great difficulty justifying to others or even themselves the need to turn their processes upside down to respond to a barely emergent market change. By the time the threat is apparent, however, it’s usually too late; upstart companies have seized a substantial lead.”

“The Silicon Valley icon is to the venture capital business what Tiger Woods is to golf: the leading light, the defining player, the one by whom all others are measured.”