The idea of disruptive innovation stepped into the spotlight in the 90s. The term was used to talk about smaller companies that out-competed bigger, established ones. While older businesses added unnecessary features and increased the price tag on their products, disruptive organizations offered just enough features, making their products more affordable.
Today, disruptive innovation is a byword for businesses and technologies that become extremely popular among end-users and change a market as we know it. But, as time went by, disruptiveness began to have more than one meaning.
Many businesses today are conceived as disruptive, while in fact they’re doing something different. Understanding what disruptive innovation truly means, and separating it from similar types of business models could be the factor that turns your idea into the next market-changing concept.