Kodak Invented the Digital Camera and Buried It
If you don't cannibalize yourself, someone else will — without the internal politics.
Kodak had the digital camera in 1975. They shelved it to protect their film business. By the time digital photography went mainstream, Kodak was too late to catch up. The mistake wasn't technological — it was organizational. They let the fear of disrupting their existing revenue prevent them from owning the future. Every incumbent faces this choice, and most choose wrong.
From Episode 457: The Simple Way to Create More Luck, Friends, and Opportunity
Shared by Sheel Mohnot
Related Signals
Ron Wayne Sold 10% of Apple for $800
Short-term fear of downside destroyed the greatest upside in business history.
Excite Said No to Buying Google for $750,000
When your business model depends on users getting less of what they want, you're on borrowed time.
DHH's Famous Bad Call: 'Facebook Is Not Worth $33 Billion'
He pattern-matched Facebook's traffic to worthless e-card sites. He missed the invention of surveillance capitalism.