Source: “Disruptive Innovation.”
The preparation for class 14: Innovation and Entrepreneurship lead us to the article “Disruptive Innovation”, which claimed that companies who practice “sustainable innovation” often lose as they make room for disruptive innovators to come in and take over the market. We discussed companies such as Amazon, Apple, Tesla that came in and redefined their respective markets and creating success for their companies. The discussion made me question whether I should even attempt in the future to pursue entrepreneurship. Is it possible for a business to become a success without creating this disruption? At the time class 14 ended, I remained on the fence without a definite answer and a certain uncertainty around the concept of disruptive innovation. However, the Sauder Alumni class helped altered my view of entrepreneurship.
We had the great honor of hearing Sauder graduates and successful entrepreneurs Paul Davidescu, Jenny Duffy, and Tom Dobranski speak about their experiences in the forming of their respective businesses. The fact then dawned on me, after hearing their success stories, that to be a successful entrepreneur, having a “disruptive innovation” isn’t always a set in stone need. Yes, having one would be perhaps ideal and definitely useful, however it isn’t required, as not all of their businesses strived to be disruptive. In my eyes, Jenny Duffy, Paul Davidescu and Tom Dobranski’s businesses were more about delivering a great product to an underserved market (at least for Paul and Tom) and doing something you enjoy (for Jenny, and Tom). There will always be a fear that a service/product won’t succeed as it hasn’t disrupted the market, however I have begun to feel that this fear shouldn’t hold us back from trying- if I love what I do and I am providing a good product, as seen with our alumni, entrepreneurial success can be achieved.
A blog post from The Experts section of the Wall Street Journal about the fallacy of “disruptive innovation” and touched on the same point of how every business seeks this disruption, but fact remains that the occurrence of this disruption is rare. All three alumni have found their own success without necessarily creating a disruption. 
Does this mean I’ll be able to create a successful business in the future, only time will accurately tell, however I am more willing to step into the ring now. A great thanks to all three of our sections incredible alumni for redefining entrepreneurship for me.
Works Cited
“Disruptive Innovation.” Clayton Christensen. Clayton Christensen, n.d. Web. 31 Oct. 2014.
Ulrich, Karl. “The Fallacy of ‘Disruptive Innovation'” The Wall Street Journal. Dow Jones & Company, Inc., 06 Nov. 2014. Web. 06 Nov. 2014.