In response to my colleague's last post, I wonder if "reversing paradigms" (I am currently cringing at this business jargon) is what sets entrepreneurs apart. Standard Oil under Rockefeller developed market share by 1. redefining the market and 2. offering a much cheaper alternative to the current product. (substitution) His kerosene for lamps cost 1/3 the cost of whale oil and he even lowered his price by 80% (over a few years) which saved his customers a fortune.
I also wanted to note that Thomas Friedman's "world is flat" concept is seized upon by many to suggest that the world is now more competitive for Americans. This is the wrong way to look at it. While there is greater competition from abroad, there is an opportunity for much greater collaboration. (Might entrepreneurs take two lessons from sports - competition and team work?)
When Janus Friis and Niklas Zennström founded Kazaa and then Skype they collaborated in turning both file sharing and then voice communication on their head. This creative destruction might be seen by some ("dinosaurs") as endangering a comfortable status quo or destabilizing important industries, but more importantly it redefined markets. Their developments leveled the playing field (damn! another sports metaphor) for small business. Inexpensive communication has and will lead to significant improvements for the world just as inexpensive fuel brought us one of the most innovative centuries to date.
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