The word “disruption” is largely overused, often confused with innovation. While innovation makes an existing offering better, cheaper, or faster, disruption flips the entire industry on its head. It’s not an evolution, rather a revolution, and with companies like Uber, Airbnb, and Netflix recently flipping the switch on their respective industries, it’s fair to say that we’re living through a golden age of disruption.
Having said that, it’s worth remembering that disruption has been going on since the beginning of time — despite it being a trendy word today in entrepreneurial circles. Back in prehistoric times, humans disrupted the basic means of survival by inventing tools, weapons, and on-demand fire. In 1908, Henry Ford introduced the first mass-produced automobile — the Model T — effectively eliminating the horse and carriage, changing the way people went about transportation.
From there, what tends to happen is that an industry will continue to innovate and grow. Until, that is, new technology is developed and a few pioneering minds cause another monumental shift — eliminating frictions and inefficiencies that we as customers have become complacent to. It’s only once these disruptions occur that we truly realize how ineffective things were before.
One example is Amazon: Previously, if we wanted to buy a product, we’d drive to a store, hunt for parking, and then wander around the aisles before standing for what felt like an eternity in a checkout queue. Amazon changed people’s expectations for online shopping, eliminated the dreaded “endless aisle,” streamlined online returns, offered free and fast shipping, and created a site where you could pretty much buy anything you wanted — from the couch, in your pajamas, without being judged.
Amazon hasn’t killed retail entirely, but it sure has flipped things on its head.
Other companies have gone down a similar path. Perhaps the most obvious example is Netflix and how it gutted a leading video rental company, Blockbuster. It took the concept of making movie rentals simple by introducing a subscription model that allowed you to rent as many DVDs as you like. It figured out regional distribution to ensure delivery was quick and easy, and it created algorithms to determine what movies you’ll likely enjoy based on what you’ve liked in the past. While Blockbuster had tried a delivery model where you’d pay for each video you rented (and face strict penalties if you returned it late), it also stood firm on its retail strategy — grossly underestimating the wave of ecommerce. Netflix, meanwhile, continued to innovate, utilizing technology to allow people to view movies online and even creating its own original content.
Once the term “Netflix and chill” was born, well, there was no stopping them.
Uber did the same to the taxi industry. Remember when we used to scour the Yellow Pages for the number of a cab company (or, if you lived in a city, frantically wave your hands at every passing yellow car on the road, hoping one would stop)? Even once the cab found you (or you found it), you’d then proceed to fumble around for cash and panic about how much you should tip. Uber made it simple. Just open the app, click a button or two, and watch a map of your vehicle head your way. And, given it stores your credit card info, payment is automatically taken — and you don’t even need to tip.
Not only did Uber make finding a ride easier, it also made it cheaper. And that’s kind of the secret sauce, isn’t it?
The list of companies continues, with Airbnb disrupting the hotel industry. Today, Airbnb is the largest hospitality booking giant in the world, and yet it doesn’t own a single property. It also evolved from being the premier choice for hipsters into being a service even Beyoncé used.
Then there’s Casper, the company that decided mattresses needed disruption — who knew? It sliced the extortionate prices we’d become accustomed to and eliminated the need to go to a mattress store altogether. Just order online, it arrives at your door in a box, and you have 100 days to decide if you like it. Genius — so much so, in fact, that Casper recently closed a $170 million round of investment, led by retail giant Target.
If you were wondering when someone would disrupt the way we think about road-tripping, well that’s happening, too. Cabin, formerly known as SleepBus, offers overnight bus rides from L.A. and San Francisco. Traffic in California, as we all know, royally sucks. But with Cabin, starting at just $85 per trip, you get your own private space with a comfy bed, fluffy pillow, electrical outlet, and 24/7 service. When you wake up at your destination, you can wash up, drink coffee, and start your day feeling refreshed.
The auto industry in general is ripe for disruption. Today, we think of car ownership in much the same way people did when mass vehicular transportation began. We go to a dealership, talk to a salesperson, and haggle for what feels like hours. We leave with paperwork most of us haven’t read, with a car we know nothing about and a warranty that’s likely expired. It all seems rather archaic. You can skip the dealership altogether, of course, but sites like Craigslist arrive with their own set of issues.
The way we finance a car, too, hasn’t changed since leasing began in the 1940s. Whether buying or leasing, we’re often locked in for the long term, paying through the roof for a car which, after a few years of its term, can feel a little long in the tooth. Plus, this expensive, ageing car isn’t being used 95% of the time, gathering dust on your driveway or in your office parking lot. This model doesn’t make sense, and customers — finally — have begun seeking out new alternatives to car ownership that better fit their lifestyles.
Tesla, for example, has changed the way wealthy people buy cars — eliminating the dealer entirely — and is also attempting to be the pioneer that brings electric and self-driving vehicles to the masses. Of course, autonomous vehicles are very much on the horizon, and some see that as a change as monumental as the introduction of smartphones. And we at Canvas are on our own path to disruption, providing a simple alternative to car ownership by offering a convenient vehicle subscription service service. Why do people need to sign a multiyear lease or loan in order to have to a car? Why does car ownership have to be this way? With Canvas, the entire buying experience is online, and the car is delivered right to your door. The cars also come with insurance, maintenance, and roadside assistance. We think that’s pretty great, too.
As technology improves, industries will continue to be turned upside down, radically reshifting how customers interact in ways that will make you wonder how we ever went on before. (Remember life before wireless phones? No, we don’t either.)
What’s next for revolutionary tech that’s primed to disrupt? Given the meteoric rise of Bitcoin, the first tangible example of blockchain technology, it’s fair to say that you’ll be hearing a lot about companies utilizing blockchain in the coming year. And while blockchain will go beyond just the financial sector — potentially disrupting the security sector, educational sector, even real estate — it isn’t exactly sexy, is it?
So, maybe we’ll just have to wait for Elon Musk to introduce mass space travel. Because who hasn’t dreamt of taking a quiet stroll on Mars?
