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Distribution vs. Innovation | Andreessen Horowitz

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The battle between every startup and incumbent comes down to whether the startup gets distribution before the incumbent gets innovation. In 1999, ReplayTV and TiVo invented the Digital Video Recorder (DVR). It was an incredible innovation — allowing you to “pause” live television. But TiVo had no value without “content” to pause. That content, by and large, was distributed via cable and satellite TV networks. And because TiVo was separate from your cable box, using it was far from simple. If you wanted your TiVo to “know” what shows were on (and consequently record them), you’d have to have it connect (via modem/phone line — remember, TVs were not placed near phone jacks) to a TiVo server to download them. Clearly TiVo had an enormous channel opportunity. What if Comcast, Adelphia, Cox, and other large cable companies simply distributed TiVo to their customers? Wouldn’t that be a home run for TiVo and the cable companies — a new service that would delight customers with a massive new r

Distribution vs. Innovation | Andreessen Horowitz Fintech Distribution vs. Innovation Alex Rampell Posted November 5, 2015 Subscribe Share Share Email X LinkedIn Facebook Hacker News WhatsApp Flipboard Reddit Share Share Email X LinkedIn Facebook Hacker News WhatsApp Flipboard Reddit The battle between every startup and incumbent comes down to whether the startup gets distribution before the incumbent gets innovation. The TiVo Problem In 1999, ReplayTV and TiVo invented the Digital Video Recorder (DVR). It was an incredible innovation - allowing you to "pause" live television. But TiVo had no

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