Think Small. Big Companies Will Not Win.

A few years ago Bill Gates said, “It is not survival of the fittest anymore, it is survival of the fastest. If it ain’t broke don’t fix it no longer applies either, because if it ain’t broke, it’s obsolete”.

Now I’m not the world’s biggest Microsoft fan as all my iFriends will tell you, but that is a mighty fine quote. The thing is, I just read Seth Godins book, The Big Moo (amazing, as ever from Seth) and he reminded me something about small companies and why it is always the fastest that win.

This is how it works…

1. Two people have an idea.
2. They go to Starbucks to chat about it.
3. Inspire each other.
4. Make a decision.
5. They shake hands.
6. They go to Printing.com and turn their idea into a business.

Now think about any of the Fortune 500 or FTSE100 companies that you know. Their senior management team may be 50 people large. For each of them to have an exchange like our friends in Starbucks, it would take 1225 handshakes!

Is it any wonder that there is a history of the tiny companies innovating more than the big ones and eventually beating them. Think Dyson. Innocent. Virgin. Nike (in 1972). Survival of the fastest. It’s just like Charles Darwin himself said,

“It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change“.

Take your idea. Invite your friend. And go to Starbucks now before it’s too late.

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