Fred Wilson drops this bit of truth:

AOL used to be the top dog. Top dogs use lock-in to control their market position. That used to work for AOL. Now it works for Apple, Google, and possibly Yahoo! But AOL is not a top dog anymore. Underdogs use open systems to undercut the top dogs who are using lock-in.

Questions start-up entrepreneurs should ask themselves: who is the incumbent you are looking to beat? Where are they using a locked system? How can you create a similar system that is open and more favorable to the user -- thus allowing you to get user attention while commoditizing your opponent's key asset?

Answer those questions seems like a good way to build an effective disruptive strategy.

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