Contrary to popular perception, a lot of business innovation has taken place when developers have thought small rather than lofty aspects. Thinking small does not only entail the objects that appear smaller but indeed a microscopic introspection. An attention to detail is developed as a result. Pixar for example realized that rectangular tables impeded creativity so they changed over to square ones leading to much better results. Thinking small also enhances collaboration across departments as each one is best at what it does. A tiny detail enabled Polycom to revolutionize the way conference rooms are wired across the globe. Such habits or innovations do not happen overnight but take time often through trial-and-error.

Source: https://hbr.org/2016/09/how-i-built-a-2-billion-company-by-thinking-small

Product disruption is where a certain product achieves one of the top positions in an industry where it never existed earlier. This could be due to pricing, marketing or even better quality. However, it is platform disruption which is far more effective as it involves multiple products and services. Platform disruptions do not directly take on incumbents and thus do not bear direct attack as existing players get the luxury of workout out a different strategy. The former is very rare as it involves enormous funding, while the latter is mainly due to business innovation. Uber is a perfect example of product disruption. Also it is low-end disruptions such as Flash memory, the Boeing 737-200 or Uber itself that create greater benefits to more number of people rather than the high- end ones such as Chobani yogurt. Source: https://hbr.org/2016/04/why-platform-disruption-is-so-much-bigger-than-product-disruption

Large enterprises have equally massive bureaucracies which often slow down their work processes. This hinders growth when compared to lean startups which have very little delay in decision making or implementation. Thus big companies must take the example of Experian Data Labs which has a dedicated team of problem solvers to help them function with the swiftness of startups. They help out banks in assessing credit worthiness of clients by conducting due diligence.  While they often spot only a fifth of the potential troublemakers, it still sparks of the potential. Engineers help up in scaling up the technology once the product has been assessed. The product managers conduct detailed business analysis on its pricing, positioning and legal conformity. Sales personnel need to be able to answer customer queries and resolve their problems. The overall time to market is roughly between three to twelve months but such a dedicated team enables large companies to develop a sense of agility within its system.

Source: https://hbr.org/2016/08/a-dedicated-team-of-problem-solvers-can-help-big-companies-act-like-lean-startups

Platform businesses have proven to be some of the biggest success stories of the last decade. In order to successfully launch them, some business innovation methods have been deduced. One way is to leverage a non-platform business of its where already some level of success have been achieved such as Amazon which took advantage of its pipeline business which existed before the online retail chain was started. The ‘piggyback strategy’ involves connecting an existing user base from a different source to its own offerings. Just-dial created a phone directory using existing yellow pages with its own efforts of visiting businesses door-to-door. In the ‘seeding strategy’, the platform company takes on the responsibility of value creation itself. An example of this could be when Google developed Android, it generated interest from developers to create the best of apps.  In ‘marquee strategy’, platform developers provide incentives to attract members from various domains. The ‘single side strategy’ is where businesses create products or services which will be highly sought after by their channel members. Then there is the ‘producer evangelism strategy’ where producers are attracted to join the platform on the premise that their customers will then follow suit. In the ‘micro-market strategy’, a platform targets only a small closed group at the beginning. Once this group is captured, market expansion is planned as successfully executed by Facebook and Tinder. Source: http://knowledge.insead.edu/blog/insead-blog/eight-ways-to-launch-a-successful-platform-business-4834

Airbnb has long positioned itself as a low impact business which leverages already existing infrastructure. It has never wanted its brand to be clubbed with conventional tourism, yet increasingly people are viewing Airbnb as just another player in the travel and tourism industry. In Paris for example, Airbnb listings have gone up three times in only two years. The city centre of Paris is increasingly resembling several other tourist sites across the world- bereft of locals with only tourist population. Venice is one city that has apparently suffered the most with locals departing in greater numbers. There have been similar repercussions in places as diverse as Lisbon, Reykjavik and San Francisco. In Lisbon for example, business research shows that it is less than a third of hosts who account for two-thirds of the Airbnb rooms, implying they have commercially rented out their property and not simply making use of vacant space as advertised by the company.

Source: https://hbr.org/2016/07/airbnb-is-facing-an-existential-expansion-problem