Near the end of World War II, Japan began turning some of its aircraft into massive piloted bombs. Packed full of explosives, once in the air these planes would be unable to even land.
Their human pilots had one mission: blow up. Preferrably by ploughing into Allied sea vessels, of course.
It was a tremendous and ironic admission on Japan’s part. Unable to win the war on traditional terms, the country and its soliders needed to make the ultimate sacrifice: self immolation. Kamikaze.
That same sort of mentality seems to be gripping the business side of the technology industry these days.
Companies like Google, Facebook and Apple have grown into monstrous, seemingly unstoppable business behemoths. Startup businesses can’t possibly compete, much less beat them. The odds of success are against them from the start.
So instead of approaching business from a traditional standpoint, startups are adopting a kamikaze mentality. They don’t even plan to succeed. They plan to launch and crash. Preferrably into the pockebook of Google or Facebook or Apple, of course. Continue reading
