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Companies Mutate or Die
Written by: Paul KedroskyArticle Overview: One of my favorite points with young growth companies, whether private or public, is that I focus on the people because the company almost certainly won't end up building what it says it will, so I better like you guys. That point -- i.e., companies mutate or die -- is less understood than it should be.
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Companies Mutate or Die
One of my favorite points with young growth companies, whether private or public, is that I focus on the people because the company almost certainly won't end up building what it says it will, so I better like you guys. That point -- i.e., companies mutate or die -- is less understood than it should be.
Here is one example:
In the 1890s Wrigley's Scouring Soap started bundling baking powder with its products. Eventually the baking powder proved more popular than the soap, so the company decided to focus on that instead. Soon afterward they started bundling two sticks of chewing gum with every can of baking powder, and eventually the gum became more popular than the powder. Naturally Wrigley's decided to start focusing on selling chewing gum, which worked out pretty well.
And another:
Lamborghini started as a tractor manufacturer.
More here.
Article Tags: 1890s, baking powder, chewing gum, lamborghini, soap, tractor manufacturer, two sticks, wrigley
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About the Author: Paul Kedrosky RSS for Paul's articles - Visit Paul's website Dr. Kedrosky is currently the Executive Director of the William J. von Liebig Center in San Diego, California. Using an innovative seed capital program, the Center catalyzes the commercialization of technologies from the internationally-ranked University of California, San Diego. Dr. Kedrosky is also a venture investor with Ventures West, Canada's largest institutional venture capital firm, where he is most active in consumer technologies and software. He is currently on the board of Marqui Corporation, a marketing automation software company. Click here to visit Paul's website Hey What if the Founder Gets Hit By a Bus Nada Dear Richard Posner Love Richard Thaler Why We Worry About the Wrong Things Part II Smoking and the Representativeness Heuristic Business Book of the Year |
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