In 2003, Jonah Staw was having dinner with some friends in a trendy restaurant in San Francisco when the discussion turned to what he calls "disruptive business ideas." Suggestions were flying left and right, and at one point, someone asked, "How crazy would it be if some company started selling socks that didn't match?"
Everyone thought it was a terrible idea — not particularly practical, certainly not useful, and difficult to own — and they moved on. Everyone, that is, except Jonah, who couldn't get the idea of mismatched socks out of his head. In his view, the sock category was lazy and b oring; we're still buying and wearing socks the same way we have for decades. And, how many times have you lost one sock and had to toss the matching one?
There are all sorts of examples of companies that have been launched on the strength of their “disruptive thinking.” But one of my all-time favorites is Little Miss Matched. The company Jonah co-founded with two other friends challenged conventional sock industry wisdom. In late 2008, Little Miss Matched did a large deal with Macy's and closed a $17 million funding round with the same investment partners that backed Build-A-Bear. With 6 retail stores and over 150 employees, Jonah and his partners are a long way from where they started 5 years earlier.
So, what was the problem that the solution addressed? Well, there wasn't any problem, and that's exactly the point. Most people in business are trained to focus only on problems: things that don't work and need fixing. It's more effective t o start by identifying something in your business...
