
To win big, shrink a market. - herdrick
http://redeye.firstround.com/2006/04/shrink_a_market.html
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paul
One reason this works is because the established players will be afraid to
compete directly with you because that would mean undermining their existing
business.

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jwecker
Fun exercise- think of a large company- one whose products you know. What new
product / package would terrify them? Not just show up as a competitor, but
really make them sit down and say "well, we're going to have to reinvent
ourselves, because this [whatever] makes our product completely obsolete." For
software companies in particular it's not impossible to come up with a product
that you could start working on now...

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immad
I have never really considered it in terms of shrinking markets. I guess what
it all boils down to is how much of an affect your growth has on the
competitor. Seems like if you are a small startup initially you would want the
market to grow so you go unnoticed and then eventually shrink as you get
enough momentum behind you, right or wrong? Any one else got other interesting
market resizing points?

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e1ven
Seth Godin suggests (paraphrased) - Look at an industry as it exists
currently.. Think of the Sacred Cows- "This industry ALWAYS....", and then
question what would happen if they weren't there.

What would happen if "Enc. Britannica didn't need door to door salesmen to
deliver a product"?

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imp
Microsoft expanded quite a few markets before it shrunk the encyclopedia
market.

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dfranke
Whenever you shrink a market by creating wealth, you'll grow other completely
unrelated markets. The money left in consumers' pockets is unlikely to simply
remain in their pockets indefinitely.

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ttonca
That was a good post. All of the recent big "winners" have not only shrunk
markets but redefined their industries altogether.

