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My favorite is disruption of incumbent A&P by supermarkets. I was fascinated by how the business strategy of incumbent businesses can cause them to lose the competitive edge very quickly, like supermarkets, which gained their market share in the localities that A&P did not see as profitable.

I agree, The story of the Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company (A&P) grocery chain is pretty interesting. A&P was a big cheese in the grocery biz in the early 20th century and put thousands of small grocers out of business nationwide. The small grocers and their suppliers cried out to the government for help, but only got some small restrictions on A&P's behavior. However, A&P was eventually taken down by the next wave of grocery innovation: the supermarket. The innovators caught the customers' attention and put A&P out of business. This example shows how entrepreneurship can unseat even the biggest players and disrupt the market, even if the government doesn't help much.

One of my favorite examples of an incumbent's disruption discussed in "Launchpad Republic: America's Entrepreneurial Edge and Why It Matters" is the case of Blockbuster and Netflix. Blockbuster, as the dominant player in the video rental industry, failed to recognize the potential of streaming technology and the changing preferences of consumers. Meanwhile, Netflix, a startup at the time, capitalized on these trends by offering a subscription-based streaming service that allowed customers to watch movies and TV shows online. Despite Blockbuster's initial dismissal of Netflix's model, the convenience and affordability of streaming ultimately led to Blockbuster's downfall. This example illustrates the importance of incumbents staying agile and adaptable in the face of disruptive technologies and changing consumer behaviors. It highlights the risk of complacency and the need for established companies to continuously innovate and evolve to remain competitive in dynamic markets.

Olga Markova wrote: ↑01 Apr 2024, 14:25 My favorite is disruption of incumbent A&P by supermarkets. I was fascinated by how the business strategy of incumbent businesses can cause them to lose the competitive edge very quickly, like supermarkets, which gained their market share in the localities that A&P did not see as profitable.

This is my favorite example for an incumbent's disruption. I never knew the path that these companies took to get to the user experience that we know of today.

The rise and fall of A&P, a once-dominant grocery chain, is a fascinating example of market disruption. Despite government intervention, A&P couldn't compete with the innovative supermarket model. This story highlights how entrepreneurship can challenge even the largest corporations.

An example which I for one found quite relevant is the heavyweight super markets undermining A&P. I began wondering how large business organizations will lose their market share sometimes due to wrong business strategies. Some of these shifts involved supermarkets, which were able to capture new share of the market, thus proving the shibboleth that is often repeated in the business world to be important : The most famous of them all is ‘’change is inevitable’