--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Big companies have trouble with…" description: "\"Big companies have trouble with innovation. Innovation is about bad ideas, or ideas that look like bad ideas. That's the fundamental thing.\" — Ben Horo..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/92e/ben-horowitz-1791_about_big-companies-have-trouble-with-innovati_3171449.png" --- # Big companies have trouble with innovation. Innovation is… ![“Big companies have trouble with innovation. Innovation is about bad ideas, or ideas that look like bad ideas. That's the fundamental thing.” quote by Ben Horowitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/92e/ben-horowitz-1791_about_big-companies-have-trouble-with-innovati_3171449.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/92e/ben-horowitz-1791_about_big-companies-have-trouble-with-innovati_3171449.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/92e/ben-horowitz-1791_about_big-companies-have-trouble-with-innovati_3171449.png) > “Big companies have trouble with innovation. Innovation is about bad ideas, or ideas that look like bad ideas. That's the fundamental thing.” [Ben Horowitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-horowitz/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Innovation thrives on ideas that seem poor or risky; embracing them is essential for breakthrough progress. **In simple terms:** Bad ideas can lead to great breakthroughs. Key Takeaway Embrace risky ideas. Themes innovation risk creativity Mood optimistic challenging Type advice inspirational When to use this quote - product development - startup culture - R&D teams - brainstorming sessions Key Concepts disruption entrepreneurship failure tolerance Questions to Reflect On - How do you identify which risky ideas to test? - What safeguards help manage failure? A Different Perspective Not all bad ideas are worth pursuing; discernment needed. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Bad idea](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bad-idea/) [Big companies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/big-companies/) [Business](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/business/) [Companies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/companies/) [Ideas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ideas/) [Innovation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/innovation/) [Technology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/technology/) ## Related quotes > [The trouble with innovation is that truly innovative ideas often look like bad ideas at the time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-horowitz/the-trouble-with-innovation-is-that-truly-innovative-ideas-often-look/) [Ben Horowitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-horowitz/) > [Conservatism, being an upper-class characteristic, is decorous; and conversely, innovation, being a lower-class phenomenon, is vulgar. ...Innovation is bad form.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thorstein-veblen/conservatism-being-an-upper-class-characteristic-is-decorous-and/) [Thorstein Veblen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thorstein-veblen/) > [“The trouble was, innovation never resulted in victory over the long term. It was too easy for the enemy to imitate and improve on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-scott-card/the-trouble-was-innovation-never-resulted-in-victory-over-the-long/) [Orson Scott Card](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-scott-card/) > [Never accept or be too comfortable with the status quo, because the companies that get into trouble are historically the ones that aren't able…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-hsieh/never-accept-or-be-too-comfortable-with-the-status-quo-because-the/) [Tony Hsieh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-hsieh/) > [I was working with an extraordinarily successful company that was doing a CEO succession, and the board was discussing the threats to the business.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justin-menkes/i-was-working-with-an-extraordinarily-successful-company-that-was/) [Justin Menkes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justin-menkes/) > [Companies that get in trouble have a failure to see two realities: market trends and competitor attacks.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-j-silverstein/companies-that-get-in-trouble-have-a-failure-to-see-two-realities/) [Michael J. 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The innovation solved a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-morin/innovation-often-starts-with-the-ordinary-they-simply-took-what-was/) [Dave Morin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-morin/) > [Innovation is only innovation when it's sustainable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-clark/innovation-is-only-innovation-when-it-s-sustainable/) Donald Clark > [Reverse innovation is an innovation that is first adopted in developing markets and flows uphill to mature markets. This concept directs forward-looking companies to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dinesh-paliwal/reverse-innovation-is-an-innovation-that-is-first-adopted-in/) [Dinesh Paliwal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dinesh-paliwal/) ## More by Ben Horowitz > [There is no silver bullet. 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