From the course: Disrupting Yourself

Unlock this course with a free trial

Join today to access over 22,600 courses taught by industry experts.

Wrapping up

Wrapping up

Here's what you need to know. Disruption is, by definition, scary and lonely. If you're a public company, maybe you've had the experience of announcing to the market what you think will be a game-changing innovation, only to see your stock price go into free-fall. I was terrified when I disrupted myself, moving from banking to equity research and then again when I left Wall Street. After that initial rush wore off, I felt a loss of identity. I could no longer call people and say, Whitney Johnson, Merrill Lynch. Now it was, Whitney Johnson. And some days, that wasn't enough. There have also been times when the PE or puke to excitement ratio, has been so uncomfortably high, I feel like I'm on a thrill ride to zero cash flow. This doesn't mean you shouldn't disrupt. It just means if it's scary and lonely, you're probably on the right track. And in fact, if you feel like you should try something new and you don't, you'll probably die inside just a little. Hence, what we call the…

Contents