Innovation used to be reserved for corporations with deep pockets and armies of engineers. Today, scrappy founders are building billion-dollar companies in weeks, not years—but how did we get here?
Adalo lets you build database-driven web apps and native iOS and Android apps — published to the App Store and Google Play — from a single no-code editor. This shift toward accessible, powerful tools represents the heart of the innovation economy transforming who can build and compete.
But we’ve now reached an inflection point in the evolution of innovation. No longer the bastion of the elite, innovation is being democratized. Every year, individuals from humble backgrounds break onto the scene with billion-dollar companies. Take Instagram. The photo sharing app was built by a pair of entrepreneurs in their twenties over the course of just eight weeks. Two years later, they sold their company to Facebook for a billion dollars. Of course, Instagram isn’t the only story of David defeating Goliath. Slack, Uber, Netflix, and hundreds startups like them faced competition from some of the largest corporations in existence — but they all won.
Why is this change happening? Three societal forces have pushed us to this inflection point: Abundance, Access, and Automation.
Abundance
Throughout history, scare resources defined the world order. However, in most of the world today, the defining feature of social, economic, and cultural life is abundance. Peter Drucker, who fans describe as the “inventor of modern management,” remarked on this new reality, noting, “For the first time – literally – substantial and rapidly growing numbers of people have choices.” Though poverty still exists, there is actually far less of it than there used to be. The world GDP has increased sixfold over the last few decades. During that same period, the world’s poverty rate was cut in half.
This massive increase in wealth is driving the advancement of innovation. Because people are spending less time fulfilling basic needs like finding sources of food, they have more time to spend pursuing ideas that will enhance quality of life.
Access
Not only are we better off, but we’re also more connected. The rise of telecommunications and ultimately the Internet have allowed us to share and collaborate to an unprecedented degree. There are now 3.9 billion people on the internet. Thanks to the smartphone, that capability is now available to us 24/7 no matter where we are. As consumers, this means we have access to a wealth of information and can make incredibly informed decisions (like which retirement funds to invest in and which funny cat video is actually worth our time).
As creators, the benefit is twofold. First, we can easily lookup specialized knowledge without having to pay for advanced classes. Want to know more about color theory or DNA sequencing? The answers are just a Google search away. Want to dive deeper? Take an online course through Khan Academy. Second, we have access not just to more information but also to more people. It’s now easier than ever to collaborate with anyone from anywhere. Slack, Google Docs, Allo, Duo, Hangouts, text messages, email, phone calls, GoToMeeting, and Snapchat all bring us closer together — and those are just the apps I’ve used in the last day! With nearly unlimited access to information and each other, it’s easier than ever to come up with something new.
Automation
Of course, it’s not enough to just think of something new. You’ve actually got to build it. In the past, this kind of production could only really happen in the context of large organizations. Bell Labs and Xerox PARC were infamous skunkworks responsible for developing the foundation for much of the technology you’re using the read this.
But automation is changing the rules of the game. Robots can assemble cars, and software can detect tumors. That’s GREAT news for entrepreneurs and innovation in general. Instead of needing to raise money to hire hundreds employees, we can launch a company with just a few people and a whole lot of software. We can be leaner than ever, using far less capital to get new businesses off the ground.
Brave New World
This is both incredibly exciting and rather terrifying. Unleashing billions of humans on the task of making our lives better means we’re going to see change occur more rapidly than ever before. But for organizations whose success depends on the status quo and the safety of their massive scale, the prospect of rapid change is scary. In order to continue to survive and thrive, they are going to have to develop the capability to embrace — and even drive — change by becoming experts at innovation.
The changes brought about by Abundance, Access, and Automation mean that organizations can no longer can rely on the same old strategies to get ahead and survive in a competitive marketplace. We’re playing on a different battlefield now that requires new strategies. The winners will be those who embrace the innovation economy.
FAQ
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| Can I easily build and launch a startup app without a large team or technical background? | Yes, with Adalo's No Code Platform, you can easily build and launch a startup app without needing a large team or extensive technical expertise. Adalo empowers individual entrepreneurs to create professional apps quickly, embodying the democratization of innovation discussed in the article. |
| Why choose Adalo over other App Builder solutions? | Adalo lets you build database-driven web apps and native iOS and Android apps — published to the App Store and Google Play — from a single no-code editor. This seamless publishing capability is crucial because getting your app into the app stores is often the hardest part of launching a new business, as it directly impacts your marketing reach and distribution strategy. With Adalo, you remove that major barrier and can focus on growing your user base. |
| What are the three forces driving the democratization of innovation? | The three societal forces are Abundance, Access, and Automation. Abundance means more people have wealth and time to pursue innovative ideas, Access refers to the unprecedented connectivity and information sharing enabled by the internet, and Automation allows small teams to accomplish what once required large organizations. |
| How has automation changed the landscape for entrepreneurs? | Automation has dramatically lowered the barriers to starting a business. Instead of needing to raise capital to hire hundreds of employees, entrepreneurs can now launch companies with just a few people and leverage software tools to handle tasks that previously required large teams and infrastructure. |
| Why are startups able to compete with large corporations today? | Startups can compete because the combination of abundance, access to information and talent, and automation tools levels the playing field. Companies like Instagram, Slack, and Uber succeeded against established giants by moving quickly, staying lean, and leveraging modern technology to build innovative products with small teams. |
| What does the 'innovation economy' mean for traditional organizations? | Traditional organizations can no longer rely on their massive scale and existing strategies to stay competitive. To survive and thrive in the innovation economy, they must develop the capability to embrace rapid change and become experts at innovation themselves, or risk being disrupted by more agile newcomers. |
