Bitter necessity
The founders of Airbnb prove that innovation does not always have to arise from dissatisfaction with the status quo. They did not start with the ambition to turn the hotel industry upside down, but out of pure necessity. They had run out of money and the rent had to be paid. Luck was on their side when it turned out that an important conference was approaching and all the nearby hotels were fully booked.
A golden opportunity that they could not pass up. There was enough space in their apartment, after all. Enough for an airbed and a filled fridge (you guessed it: Breakfast). The website was set up within 24 hours, the news spread like wildfire by enthusiasts involved in the conference and the first guests showed up almost automatically. The concept also turned out to work well in other cities – and the rest is history.
For the love of music
For the founders of Spotify, it all started with hotel email addresses an ultimate dream: breathing new life into the music industry. Because having to go to the music store all the time for the latest tracks, or downloading illegally via Napster? There was another way. Compiling playlists based on individual tracks, for example. Your own music always within reach. Streamed online and completely legal. 'Lights off, Spotify on'. It was a resounding success.
And that success is partly due to the playful way in which Spotify was introduced to the market. In the last phase of development, an invitation-only policy was started. Were you one of the happy few ? Then you could use the service for free and invite five friends – who could each invite another five friends. It turned out to be a smart move, which contributed enormously to the service going viral. And the fact that Spotify is still the way to discover, listen to and share music with friends is by no means self-evident. After all, 50 percent of all startups do not survive the first five years, according to research by Deloitte .
Frustration as motivation
For the founders of Netflix, everything was fine. Until that fateful day. The reason: an 'Apollo 13' video. One of the founders realized that he was too late to return this video to the local video store. Six weeks to be exact, a fine of no less than 40 dollars followed. Together with a strong feeling of dissatisfaction.
And so the idea was born. A monthly subscription to watch unlimited movies at a fixed, low rate. Sky-high fines a thing of the past: a gap in the market. The beginning of Netflix was a fact.