Essay · about 25 min read

How Startups Beat Incumbents

Jason Cohen · A Smart Bear Free Intermediate

Jason Cohen names the exact mechanism you are trying to size: a big company has a materiality threshold (it needs a new line to clear tens of millions before it is worth a team's attention), so a niche throwing off a million a year is invisible to it and wide open to you. He gives you the number to reason with, not just the vibe. Read it as a lens for judging whether your target sits under that threshold on purpose, not by accident.

• Incumbents ignore markets below their revenue materiality threshold, so a niche too small for them can be exactly big enough for you.
• Every scale advantage a big player has (process, brand, sales machine) creates a matching weakness a focused startup can attack.
• The test is not just "is this market big" but "is it structured so the giant cannot afford to chase me here."