Essay · 12 min read

Obsoletive

Ben Thompson · Stratechery Freemium Advanced

Thompson names a third path beyond sustaining and disruptive: products that make the old thing obsolete rather than slowly undercutting it. It sharpens your thinking about why some toy like products explode instead of creeping upmarket. Useful if your product does not fit the neat low end disruption story.

• Some new products obsolete the incumbent rather than disrupt it slowly.
• The smartphone did not undercut the camera, it absorbed it.
• Ask whether you are competing with the incumbent or replacing its whole job.