The Innovator's Dilemma: why web2 companies will fail

When possible, it's a better use of our collective time and money to bring web2 companies along into the future. Some companies will understand the benefits of decentralization and adapt their business models and cost structures to adopt blockchain at the core of their business. Unfortunately, there will also be a lot of companies who fail to adapt.

The Innovator's Dilemma is a book by Clayton Christensen first published in 1997. There are a lot of great takeaways for anyone working with innovative technology, so I highly recommend web3 folks give it a look. The subtitle for the book is "when new technologies cause great firms to fail" which perfectly describes the coming web3 reckoning.

Established companies have processes and metrics that incentivize employees to do more of the things that have lead to the company's success. The problem is that new tech like web3 is new. It doesn't fit the company's model, so they'll pass on the opportunities created initially. Company's that are created specifically to tackle these opportunities will grow with the technology. Eventually, when the new tech catches on, the established company fails to adapt quick enough to survive.

We will see companies adapt, but it's reasonable to expect that many will fail. It's mostly a question of how quickly the general public's perception of blockchain becomes favorable. As the inherent qualities of crypto become desirable features for more and more people, dApps that make adoption the easiest will be positioned for explosive growth and will become leaders in their industry.

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-Luke

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P.S. It's impossible to put a timeframe on this with any certainty, but I believe we'll see accelerated web3 adoption over the current decade. We need accessible dApps that solve real problems. Not just million dollar monkey pictures.