The Challenge of
Sustaining Disruptive
Innovation When You
Meet Success

So you get some success...
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52
Headcount
28
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What is Sharethrough?

What is Sharethrough?

What is Sharethrough?

Innovate or die
*disruptive innovations not sustaining innovations

It’s easier to innovate in a
successful startup

FA LSE!
It’s easier to innovate in a
successful startup

Product & Engineering
Resource Allocation

Number of Internal
Customers

Certainty of Revenue

Balancing success and disruptive
innovation is especially hard for
a startup

Here’s what we did

Step 1:
Create the Right Environment
Identify the right resources based on
their ability to aid your learning (vs
scale)

Step 1:
Create the Right Environment
Isolate and clear the schedule of your
resources

Step 1:
Create the Right Environment
Don’t promise to (immediately)
revolutionize the business

Step 2:
Set Goals and Boundaries
Use internal customer development to
develop initial hypotheses

Step 2:
Set Goals and Boundaries
Aim to build an MVP that solves a simple
business problem

Step 2:
Set Goals and Boundaries
Build a usable product not just a hack -
don’t skimp on design

Step 3:
Milestones & Progress Checks
Keep the progress updates separate
from the existing product workflow

Step 3:
Milestones & Progress Checks
Use regular (weekly) customer meetings
as release markers

Step 3:
Milestones & Progress Checks
Re-assess high-level assumptions and
hypotheses every 3 months

My Learnings

Innovation is Hard

Don’t fall into old habits!
Re-do your customer development

Don’t fall into old habits!
Iterate differently

When you “finish”, have a
transition plan in place

Be ready for disappointment and
some pivoting

Thanks!
Robert Fan
@rfan
rob@sharethrough.com