This story was originally published here.
If the world's largest corporations don't take action soon, they risk dying out altogether.
It all has to do with one thing: innovation.
The Fortune 500 list was first published in 1955 by Fortune Magazine. Since then, 88% of the list's original companies no longer exist, having merged, gone bankrupt, or fallen from the ranks, according to the American Enterprise Institute.
The list has seen near constant turnover since its founding, with brick-and-mortar companies like Armstrong Rubber, Pacific Vegetable Oil, and Riegel Textile being replaced by tech-focused companies like Facebook, Microsoft, and eBay.
In fact, Forbes Magazine reports that only 50 years ago, the average Fortune 500 life expectancy for a company was 75 years. But today, it's only 15 years… and it's getting shorter.
This tells us a few things:
- The public markets change quickly, and they're insanely competitive. Both of these characteristics contribute to high corporate turnover rates.
- Even if a company is pulling in major revenue today, there's no guarantee that it'll do the same tomorrow as industries keep changing.
- A company's progress and revenue go hand in hand with innovation. If a company isn't willing to develop new, outside-the-box ideas, it won't be able to keep up.
It may sound like a brutal ecosystem… but a dynamic market is a good thing.
Dynamism in the markets is what promotes progress and pushes industries forward, which means only the companies willing to put in the work are going to sit at the top.
The unfortunate truth I see is that too many companies are focused too heavily on the present, instead of taking the time to refocus their energies for the future.
And I'm not the only one.
John Chambers, chair of tech company Cisco, predicts that in the next decade, over 40% of all businesses will go under if they don't “figure out how to change their entire company to accommodate new technologies.”
Consulting firm McKinsey & Co. reports that a whopping 80% of business executives believe that their current businesses are at risk… and only 6% think their innovation processes are satisfactory.
Those big corporations had better watch their backs… or else they'll find themselves replaced by startups…
Editor's Note: Click here to keep reading.
“We haven’t seen an industry like this in a long time”
Dear Reader,
He's backed some of the most successful startups in the world – investing in companies like Dropbox and Pinterest long before they became the giants they are today.
But even with those billion-dollar companies in Joe Montana's portfolio…
He says the cannabis industry has as much potential than anything he's seen in a while.
“It is a great time for investing in the cannabis industry,” he said. “The possibilities to get in on the ground floor of some great companies is very exciting for everyone.“
However, Joe is careful to say the normal rules of investing don't apply to the cannabis market.
“You can't use those old-fashioned metrics analysts tend to lean on. You need a different process.“
Joe wants to make sure Americans have all the information and tools they need to make smart investment decisions.
That's why he recently took part in the The 2020 American Cannabis Summit.
The summit is a gathering of the industry's top experts where they'll reveal the market's best wealth-building opportunities.
And Joe will even go over a unique formula for finding startups.
This online-only event is a must-watch for anyone who has ever considered investing in cannabis.
Click here to watch the summit now.
To Your Success,
Mike Ward
Host, The 2020 American Cannabis Summit
