New to Big

Imagine a giant corporation, a behemoth that has thrived for decades by refining its existing businesses. It knows how to grow 'Big to Bigger'—that is, to scale what it already does well. But what happens when the world changes so fast that these tried-and-true methods no longer suffice? Many large enterprises find themselves trapped in their own success, unable to innovate effectively because their DNA is wired for efficiency and incremental improvement, not for the discovery of entirely new markets.

Take the story of a startup that built a revolutionary marketing dashboard powered by early machine learning. It had two distinct customer groups: large enterprises with big budgets, and smaller companies with less spending power but similar needs. The startup’s initial revenue came from smaller businesses, but the larger enterprises were the real prize. When a Fortune 100 company partnered with them to white-label the product, it seemed like a perfect match. Yet the partnership failed spectacularly because the customers loved the free trial but couldn’t afford the paid version. This failure underscored the critical importance of product-market fit and timing, lessons that even seasoned entrepreneurs sometimes learn the hard way.

On the other side, imagine a global conglomerate struggling to innovate within its own walls. The company excelled at operational excellence but found itself unable to nurture the entrepreneurial spirit necessary to discover new growth opportunities. This tension between the 'Big to Bigger' machine and the need for 'New to Big' innovation sparked the creation of a new growth operating system designed to run alongside the traditional one.

The essence of this new approach is recognizing that enterprises must build a separate, dedicated mechanism to discover, validate, and grow new businesses while continuing to scale existing ones. It’s not a matter of resources or ideas, but of leadership permission and ownership. The CEO must champion this dual approach, fostering a culture where experimentation is encouraged, failure is seen as learning, and new ventures are given the freedom to thrive.

This awakening is the first step in the journey from being a company that only grows incrementally to one that innovates boldly. It requires leaders to embrace uncertainty and to understand that the future markets and technologies are largely unknowable. Instead of planning linearly, they must adopt a portfolio approach, placing many small bets and learning quickly which ones hold promise.

As we move forward, we will explore how this mindset shift unfolds, how discovery and validation processes help identify new opportunities, and how leadership can support and scale these efforts. The path from 'New to Big' is challenging but filled with possibility—let’s step into it together.