The 5 Core Tenets of Successful Disruptor Companies

How to be fast, nimble and agile

Speed is more vital than ever to a successful business. With the world moving so quickly, companies are realizing the need to be fast and nimble.

For inspiration, they can look to a new class of companies—many of them emerging—whose MO is speed and agility. These “disruptors” share common traits. They are generally direct-to-consumer (most start with no physical retail space) and they are digital natives, mostly born on mobile. Think of clever new upstarts like Smile Direct Club in the beauty space or Rover, which offers in-home pet-sitting services.

Against big odds, some of the best of this disruptor class have become market leaders competing against scaled, established players who have larger staffs and advertising budgets. Because Facebook marketing has been so central to most of these companies’ growth, I have been fortunate enough to have a front seat in studying how they are getting it done.

Typically there are five critical factors at disruptor companies that drive organizational success within an agile marketing paradigm. We refer to these as the “Core Tenets of Disruption.” They are worth considering for any organization, large or small, that wants to succeed in this chaotic new environment.

1. Unified goals with extreme focus

With disruptors, we typically see that the hunger for success is contagious. Establishing the goal of seamless teamwork, leaders inside the C suite have set a cultural tone that establishes clarity on a few select goals that enable unencumbered focus. This inspires and pushes every last staffer to do anything in their power to help the company succeed. Disruptors have also stood out as leaders in truly walking the walk when it comes to rallying their entire teams around being “mobile-first.”

2. Control vs. loose portfolio

Disruptors let their people operate with a high degree of autonomy. The approval chain can slow things down or even grind them to a halt. Disruptors circumvent this by trusting their employees to make their own game-time decisions with limited guardrails in place. With clearly defined business goals, disruptor leadership understands the importance of moving fast. This is truly how disruptors win. The best performing companies find ways to remove steps in policies and procedures until they “find the breaking point” to ensure the least friction possible (see Netflix).

3. Freedom of information

Often, someone’s place in the org chart determines how much and what kind of information and data is available. Disruptors allow information to flow freely in every direction regardless if you are C suite or a new hire. Everyone from the janitor to the CEO gets the same daily revenue/KPI reports, so every line-level employee is empowered. The most innovative companies find a way to share A/B tests across the entire company, ensuring key learnings don’t die within siloed departments. Many disruptors also emphasize collaboration over hierarchy. Strategy and budget decisions are often framed as discussions rather than top-down directives.

4. Connoisseur of failure

Disruptor companies are much less risk averse. At these companies, if you take a risk that doesn’t pan out, it is viewed as an opportunity to learn instead of as a mistake. In this way, employees are empowered to try anything with potential to give them a leg up. Taking risks extends to daily situations where decision-makers are eager to try new solutions, ad formats or platforms. Disruptors don’t see “failure.” This “test everything!” mantra also isn’t something that only lives in the analytics department. It is often woven into the culture of every single team.

5. Managing a living thing

Disruptors also look at lessons learned as an always-on, continuous feedback loop. They cherish putting insights back into the business to reap greater rewards in the future. The market is a living, breathing thing that constantly offers clues to inform priorities including campaigns, company mission and product. Disruptors have embraced the notion that you have to be willing to break things in order to scale and innovate. Every staffer is encouraged to develop the muscle memory to innately adapt and pivot quickly. With practice, they become much more skilled at recognizing industry shifts, consumer behavior or even the realization that their own internal processes are broken or need improvement.

Every company out there can apply these agile marketing principles. If you are willing to embrace disruption as an operating principle, you just might be amazed at what happens.

Jake Bailey is Facebook’s head of industry for emerging disruptors, a group of high-growth, digitally native, direct-to-consumer companies that are changing their respective industries. He joined Facebook from Wish Shopping, where he built their North American and European business development groups, along with launching their merchant advertising platform.