Disruptive startups of innovative founders trigger fundamental reforms in their industry. To be truly disruptive, it takes a groundbreaking and original business model, as well as ambitious and motivated minds to successfully put this idea into action with their new approach. A disruptive startup with its innovative business model displaces the existing and conventional of the respective industry.
More than just a vegan burger
The startup Beyond Meat has revolutionized the food industry. Beyond Meat develops a herbal meat substitute product that consists of the same components as animal meat: protein, fat, trace elements and water. It has Beyond Meat managed that taste, texture, and appearance of the plant meat substitute similar to the original so that there is a likelihood of confusion. The Beyond Meat requires fewer resources in manufacturing, making the manufacturing process more efficient and sustainable.
A study by the University of Michigan on the environmental impact of the Beyond Burgers shows that the vegetable burger consumes 99% less water, 93% less land, 90% less CO 2 and 46% less energy, and is therefore much more environmentally friendly than its animal counterpart. The mission of Beyond Meat is to revolutionize the future of the protein. Ethan Brown’s 2009 disruptive startup is changing the food industry by addressing the problematic impact of mass livestock on human health, climate change, over-consumption of natural resources and animal welfare.
An energy storage for wind and sun
Co-founders Doug Alderton, Steven Armstrong, Michael Falcinelli and Dave Vieau of Vionx Energy are using their idea as a truly disruptive startup, as Vionx Energy has a sustainable solution ready for the biggest problem of renewable energy: energy storage. Vionx Energy develops long-lasting batteries for the storage of renewable energies. Thus, even from photovoltaic and wind turbines energy can be obtained when the sun is not shining and the wind is not blowing.
The energy storage of Vionx Energy can store energy for over 20 years. Founded in Woburn, Massachusetts in 2002, the company partners with the United Technologies Research Center for more than 65 years to develop their energy storage systems. On the one hand, the storage facilities can serve as support for electricity grids in cities that have a high energy demand by a growing population or are only slightly supplied by other energy companies. On the other hand, the energy storage of Vionx Energy offers a disruptive solution for the future of renewable energies through a long-lasting and permanent storage of energy.
Music on endless loop
Spotify has revolutionized the way music is heard. The mission of the Swedish music streaming service is music for all. Spotify offers millions of songs from artists around the world, as well as audiobooks and podcasts. If the user uses Spotify for free, he has to listen to advertising in return. An upgrade to Spotify Premium for 10 euros, with students reduced for 4.99 euros, allows the user to listen to unlimited music and without advertising music, as well as download music to the smartphone to continue listening offline. The music industry is fundamentally changed by the disruptive startup Spotify, because the listener no longer pays for the single song or album as before, but streams as many songs and albums as he wants with the flatrate. Founded in 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon in Sweden, Spotify is now available in over 80 countries. Spotify is definitely a disruptive startup, but it’s not a green startup. However, listening to music on a smartphone or computer saves resources that would otherwise be used in CD production. It is therefore more sustainable to use a music streaming service than to constantly buy new CDs.
With their innovations, disruptive startups can revolutionize the future and change our thinking and actions over the long term. Whether in the food industry, the energy industry or the music industry, disruptive startups bring about further development and new, critical perspectives that can lead to long-term improvements for the industry and great success for the founders.
Also published on Medium.