Breaking Up or Disrupting Big Tech?

Why technology companies will be replaced sooner than you think.

(I notice a trend recently to learn lessons for business from popular movies or books. Sci-fi and fantasy seem popular choices. So, here we go.)

Lord Voldemort. The Dark Lord. “He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named.”

The primary antagonist of the Harry Potter novels.

All of the recent talk around whether regulators should “break up” Big Tech (Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Google) reminds me of the defeat of Voldemort.

Let me explain why.

At the end of The Deathly Hallows, the Dark Lord is not defeated by a mature wizard (think Dumbledore — headmaster of Hogwarts — a public authority in the context of Big Tech) but a small, somewhat nerdy boy in glasses. With the help of his friends.

Voldemort’s own hubris is his undoing. His downfall is the direct result of his failure to take the “Muggle” child seriously. He is disrupted by a misguided belief in his own power and an inability to see a younger, highly motivated rival as his equal.

Until it is too late.

Voldemort became arrogant and complacent. He failed to understand that the world had changed.