Imitating Innovators is Smart Business
Business, Innovation, Marketing, Small Business, Strategies and Tactics | (0)
Did you know that 97.8% of the value of innovations goes to imitators? (“Imitation is More Valuable Than Innovation,” Harvard Business Review, April 2010.) White Castle led to McDonald’s; Diners Club lead to Visa, MasterCard and American Express. Walmart’s founder admitted to borrowing most of its practices from others and improving on them.
In the financial services industry there are many product companies that never are the innovators but have profited from taking an initial innovative idea and making it more appealing (for instance the riders on variable annuities). That means that the hard work in designing a ...
