The cheap capital economy that offers disruptors the opportunity to pull the future forward sucks oxygen from the incumbents, who are forced to retrench (layoff, cuts in CapEx) as the new kids on the block can lean into new investments and hiring. It becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy—incumbents are forced to play defense in order to maintain profits their investors have become addicted to. This further weakens the incumbents, giving the disruptors more momentum as market share gains become easier with sector elders weakened.
