End-Up : A Creative Imperative For Startups
Since the dawn of time, innovation has been lying at the heart of humans’ life. Whether it was the discovery of fire or gravity, the invention of the steam engine or the computer, the first step of Christopher Columbus in America or Neil Armstrong on the Moon, the human being is a creative being who has to constantly push back his limits. Today, innovation is built on the discontinuity, the breakdown of established models and large companies find themselves totally shaken up.
In line with the current rise of discontinuity, uncertainty and market disruption by new entrants, maybe it’s time to develop a new concept called “End-Up” which would outline the creative imperative for the entrepreneur to define an exit strategy before even launching his company.
This ultimate disruption, a real double-edged pivot for the organization, is crucial to allow the entrepreneur to leave his company before seeing this one, in turn, getting disrupted. The emotional impact is, of course, significant.
Could one imagine one day foreseeing the terms of his divorce before even getting married?
However, the fatalist nature of this concept does not alter its relevance in an uncertain world, which changes at a very fast pace.