Why Playing It Safe Might Be Killing Your Business Potential
Some entrepreneurs see problems to solve. Disruptors see entire industries to reimagine.
The Conversation That Changed Everything
In 1997, Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph were driving to work together in Silicon Valley, brainstorming their next business venture. Both were facing redundancy as their software company was about to merge, and they wanted to follow in Amazon’s footsteps by creating the next big disruptor.
“We decided to become ‘the Amazon.com of something,'” Randolph later revealed. They weren’t looking to improve an existing business model – they were looking to completely reimagine one.
After researching products that were portable, durable, and desirable enough to sell online, they focused on DVDs. But here’s where the disruptor mindset kicked in: instead of just competing with existing video stores on convenience or selection, they questioned the entire foundation of how the industry worked.
Why should customers pay per rental? Why should they face late fees? Why should they have to drive to a physical location? What if they could create a subscription model with no due dates, no late fees, and delivery by mail?
At the time, this seemed crazy. Blockbuster was making $800 million annually just from late fees – 16% of their total revenue. The entire industry was built around penalizing customers for human behavior like forgetting to return movies.
But Reed and Marc weren’t trying to compete with Blockbuster. They were trying to make Blockbuster irrelevant.
If this story resonates with you – if you’ve ever looked at an entire industry and thought “there has to be a fundamentally better way to do this” – you might be a Disruptor Entrepreneur.
The Disruptor Difference: Revolution vs. Evolution
Disruptor Entrepreneurs don’t just see gaps in markets – they see flawed assumptions that entire industries are built on. While others work within existing frameworks, Disruptors question the frameworks themselves.
They possess a unique combination of:
- Systems-level thinking that sees how changing one thing could transform everything
- Contrarian conviction that most industries are doing things wrong
- High tolerance for resistance from established players who have everything to lose
- Vision for changing customer behavior rather than accommodating it
But here’s what makes Disruptors different from other entrepreneur types: They’re not just creating new solutions – they’re forcing entire industries to change or become obsolete.
The Revolutionary Advantage (And Why It’s Terrifying)
When Disruption Works
Disruptors don’t just build businesses – they create new realities. When they succeed, they don’t capture market share, they redefine markets entirely.
Think about:
- Netflix fundamentally changing how people consume entertainment, killing the video rental industry
- Uber redefining urban transportation and creating the gig economy
- Airbnb transforming how people think about travel accommodations and property ownership
These weren’t improvements to existing services – they were entirely new ways of thinking about fundamental human needs.
The Price of Revolution
But disruption comes with unique challenges that other entrepreneur types don’t face:
The Resistance Factor: Entire industries will fight against you because your success threatens their existence.
The Education Burden: You’re not just selling a product – you’re selling a new way of thinking about an entire category.
The Timing Risk: Be too early and the market isn’t ready. Be too late and someone else has already changed the game.
The Capital Challenge: True disruption often requires patient capital and longer timelines than incremental improvements.
Signs You Might Be a Disruptor Entrepreneur
Does this describe how you see business opportunities?
✅ You look at entire industries and think “this whole system is backwards”
✅ You’re energized by the idea of making established players completely change how they operate
✅ You see opportunities to change customer behavior, not just serve existing behaviors
✅ You’re willing to be unpopular with industry incumbents who see you as a threat
✅ You think in terms of “what if we completely reimagined how this works?”
✅ You’re comfortable with long timelines and the uncertainty that comes with changing markets
✅ You believe most “industry best practices” are actually just outdated assumptions
✅ You’d rather create a new category than compete in an existing one
The Strategic Reality Check
Here’s what Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph discovered as Netflix evolved: Being a Disruptor isn’t just about having revolutionary ideas – it’s about having the right approach to revolution.
Netflix succeeded not just because they had a better business model, but because they understood something crucial about disruption: you have to be willing to disrupt yourself before someone else does. When streaming technology emerged, Netflix didn’t try to protect their DVD business – they cannibalized it with their own streaming service.
The questions every Disruptor must answer:
- Am I disrupting the right industry at the right time?
- Do I have the resources and patience for the long game of changing markets?
- Am I prepared for the organized resistance from established players?
- Can I change customer behavior, or am I just hoping they’ll change?
The Two Faces of Disruption
If you’re reading this thinking “This sounds like me,” here’s what you need to understand: Not every revolutionary thinker should follow the same disruptive path.
Some disruptors thrive as pure revolutionaries (like Netflix completely reimagining entertainment). Others succeed better as technology disruptors (using new tech to change existing industries). Still others discover they’re actually innovators (creating breakthrough solutions) or scalers (rapidly expanding new models once they’re proven).
Your success depends on more than just your revolutionary mindset. It depends on your tolerance for resistance, your access to patient capital, your ability to change customer behavior, and your specific approach to challenging established industries.
Beyond the Revolution: What It Really Takes
Netflix’s story didn’t end with their initial disruption of Blockbuster. They had to continuously disrupt themselves – from DVDs to streaming to original content production. Today, they’re facing disruption from new players like Disney+ and Apple TV+.
The lesson: True disruptors don’t just revolutionize once – they build the capability for continuous revolution.
Reed Hastings’ success came not just from seeing that the entertainment industry was broken, but from understanding his specific strengths as a disruptor and building a company culture that could continuously challenge its own assumptions.
Discover Your Revolutionary Path
If you recognize yourself in the Netflix story, you’re likely a disruptive thinker – but the question isn’t whether you can see what’s wrong with existing industries. The question is: What’s your optimal path for turning revolutionary thinking into sustainable business transformation?
Our entrepreneurial assessment looks beyond your current situation to analyze your approach to challenging established systems, your tolerance for industry resistance, and what it will take to accomplish your bigger disruptive goals.
In just 10 minutes, you’ll discover:
✅ Your exact entrepreneurial type and how it relates to disruptive innovation
✅ Your top 3 natural strengths as a revolutionary entrepreneur
✅ Your top 2 challenges and what to expect on your disruptive journey
✅ Your strategic advantage in challenging established industries
✅ Hidden investment opportunities specific to your type (often $185K+ annually)
✅ Your competitive vulnerabilities and how to protect against them
✅ A relevant framework to guide your revolutionary entrepreneurial decisions
Take the Assessment Now – Discover Your Exact Entrepreneurial Type →
Remember: The world needs revolutionaries, but not every revolutionary needs to follow the same path. Your ability to see what’s broken in entire industries might indeed be your biggest business advantage – if you’re on the right disruptive path to change them.
Ready to discover whether you’re wired for pure disruption or better suited for another revolutionary approach? Your assessment results are waiting.