The Common Curse of The Entrepreneurial Seizure

“Entrepreneurial Seizure” — as Michael E. Gerber calls it in his book E-Myth Revisited – is defined by the blind faith and belief that the innovation you are bringing to the market is unparalleled. Giants like Cisco suffer from it too.

Cisco’s Flip Video is a classic story of how a technology launch turned over, belly up. Cisco mistook the elegant Flip Device – a video camera with a built-in USB connector — as disruptive technology actually proved to be nothing when smartphones mushroomed with integrated camera.

Cisco buried the investment, wrote off US$300 million and fired 550 employees.

Flip, for all purposes, is dead.

On the other hand, there have been some truly great innovations that have changed the way we work, do regular things, communicate, and a lot more. Innovation, new technology, and bright ideas all have a chance to bob on the surface – bright, sustainable, strong, and profitable. You do want to be on the brighter side of a product launch, and of that I am sure.

That happens when you give a thought to the dynamics of product launches.

Nothing remains permanent. Nothing is absolute. Everything is relative. You got to go where the wind blows. The smoother this happens for you, the saner you end up being.

What do you think?