Leonard Sherman (Author & Adjunct Professor, Columbia Business School)

Leonard Sherman talks about the dilemma that he believes many companies get caught up in of trying to keep up with their competitors with the result that it becomes an unwinnable race. He discusses the detrimental effect to businesses of imitating competitor’s products including that the end result is often products that look the same and are so overloaded with functionality that they are more than consumers want or can afford to purchase. Sherman explains the theory of disruptive technology and offers his theory that companies can be successful by offering simpler and good enough solutions at competitive prices. He provides several examples of companies that have done this successfully.