Challenges in Cracking Big Markets

Dominic Orr, Aruba Networks

Dominic Orr, CEO of Aruba Networks, responds to a question about whether startups have a chance of cracking markets owned by big competitors. Orr suggests that startups often can find niches in big markets because they have greater speed to execution. However, Orr argues that success in a big market may be more than simply creating a niche but rather success is creating a large, sustainable business. Orr argues that the challenge of creating a large business is that you attract the attention of large competitors who try to destroy you. At the same time, as a company grows, it too eventually becomes vulnerable to smaller startups with even greater relative speed to execution.