Business Quote by Clayton Christensen
“Generally, the technology that enables disruption is developed in the companies that are the practitioners of the original technology. That's where the understanding of the technology first comes together. They usually can't commercialize the technology because they have to couple it with the business model innovation, and because they tend to try to take all of their technologies to market through their original business model, somebody else just picks up the technology and changes the world through the business model innovation.”
About This Quote
Source Book: The Innovator's Dilemma, Clayton Christensen, 1997
Disruptive tech often originates with practitioners, but they lack the business model to scale it; outsiders innovate the model and spread the tech.
In simple terms: Practitioners create tech, outsiders commercialize it.
Key Takeaway
Focus on business model innovation to scale tech.
Themes
innovation
disruption
business models
technology adoption
Mood
analytical
optimistic
Type
strategic
insightful
When to use this quote
- Startups developing new tech
- large firms adopting tech
- venture capital scouting
- industry analysts assessing market potential
- policy makers fostering innovation ecosystems
Key Concepts
Disruptive innovation
value capture
first mover advantage
Questions to Reflect On
- How can companies combine deep tech expertise with business model innovation?
- What incentives encourage practitioners to commercialize their own technologies?
A Different Perspective
Practitioners may lack resources or incentives to pursue new models, limiting impact.
![“[S]ometimes, when you are a food person, the possible irrelevance of what you are doing doesn’t cross your mind until it’s too late. (Once, for example, when I was just starting out in the food business, I was hired by the caper people to develop a lot of recipes using capers, and it was weeks of…” quote by Nora Ephron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/d79/nora-ephron-1217_business_s-ometimes-when-you-are-a-food-person-th_980.jpg)
![“If the State does not acquire supremacy over [vast private] enterprises, it becomes their puppet, and they become the real State.” quote by Bertrand Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/bad/bertrand-russell-69_acquire_if-the-state-does-not-acquire-supremacy_1379.jpg)