The Innovator/conservator paradigm.

Here are some interesting excerpts from John Wiley Spiers' "How Small Business Trades Worldwide" (2001).

The Innovator/conservator paradigm.

In 1976, Apple introduced the personal computer to the marketplace. Jobs and Wozniak, Apple's founders, have a letter from executives turning their idea down when they offered it to Hewlett Packard. IBM certainly had the capital and technological resources to introduce a personal computer that year if they had wanted to do so. But in 1976 there was no interest, and [Peter F.] Drucker explains why: no mainstream conservator company is going to risk his 9-5, weekends free, country club membership, good salary, health insurance and pension plan on a risky venture.

After innovation such as a personal computer does gain popularity, the the conservators step in, as IBM did, with their version of the PC [1981]. And when they moved in, they took the lion's share of the PC market. But this is a very important point to remember: IBM did not introduce the PC until 1981. As fiercely competitive as the computer business is, Apple was virtually alone in the market for five years!

After IBM stole the lion's share of the PC market, the then-new Macintosh line assured the survival of Apple Computer.

Never bother "protecting" your ideas as an innovator. Worry about the customer's needs.