I'm writing this at 37,000 feet, having just paid $19.99 for internet that doesn't work. The cabin crew member smiled apologetically when I mentioned it. "We refund these constantly," she admitted. "It never really works properly."
Starlink has existed for six years. Six years of reliable, high-speed satellite internet. Yet here I am on one of the world's premium airlines, experiencing 98.2% packet loss whilst trying to send a simple email. This isn't just bad service - it's a perfect example of why big companies can't innovate.
The bigger the ship, the harder it is to turn. It's a simple principle that explains why established companies struggle whilst startups disrupt entire industries. When you're managing thousands of employees, multiple stakeholders, and layers of bureaucracy, a decision that takes a startup 30 minutes requires months of committees, approvals, and risk assessments.
Airlines are perhaps the worst offenders. They operate in one of the most regulated industries on earth. Every tiny change requires scrutiny from aviation authorities, safety boards, and internal compliance teams. By the time they've approved implementing new technology, that technology is often already obsolete.
But regulation isn't an excuse - it's a crutch. Ryanair proved this when they disrupted British Airways by moving fast as a smaller, nimble player. They didn't wait for perfect conditions. They identified what customers actually wanted (cheap flights) and delivered it whilst BA was still holding meetings about holding meetings.
The airline innovation drought extends beyond terrible internet. When did you last see a meaningful improvement in the flying experience? The seats are the same. The entertainment systems are the same. The food is somehow worse. Meanwhile, Tesla completely reimagined what a car could be in less time than it takes an airline to update their mobile app.
In our fast-changing AI world, this startup speed advantage becomes existential. Companies that take six months to approve a ChatGPT pilot programme will be disrupted by competitors who integrated AI into their core operations in week one.
Apple provides a masterclass in what happens when big companies lose their innovative edge. During Steve Jobs' era from 1997 to 2011, they launched the iMac, iPod, iPhone, iPad, and conceptualised the Apple Watch. Every product redefined its category.
Tim Cook took over in 2011. He's an exceptional operator - perhaps one of the best number twos in corporate history. But he's not a visionary. Under his leadership, Apple became exactly what Jobs fought against: a big fucking ship (BFS) that prioritises incremental improvements over revolutionary leaps.
The Vision Pro epitomises this decline. Nobody uses it. The V2 barely addressed the core problems - it's still too heavy, the display hasn't meaningfully improved, and the field of vision remains limited. This is what happens when you replace gut feel with calculated analysis. When every decision goes through focus groups and market research instead of following a leader's instinct about what could be amazing.
During Jobs' era, Apple was one of only four large companies capable of maintaining startup-pace innovation at scale. Now they're just another tech giant, releasing marginally better versions of the same products year after year. Without that charismatic visionary leader willing to bet the company on crazy ideas, even Apple couldn't escape the gravitational pull of corporate inertia.
Eric Ries got it right in 'The Lean Startup' - but most big companies completely misunderstand what he meant. A pivot isn't admitting failure and starting again. It's a structured course correction based on validated learning. It's the difference between a nimble speedboat adjusting course and a cruise ship that takes 10 miles to turn around.
Startups adapt, change, and flow with what they learn. They test hypotheses, gather data, and adjust - all within days or weeks. This isn't recklessness; it's intelligence. They recognise that in a rapidly changing world, the ability to adapt quickly is more valuable than having a perfect five-year plan.
Big companies should run like startups as much as possible. This isn't about installing a ping-pong table and calling it innovation. It's about building nimbleness into the company's DNA from the ground up. Amazon gets this. Despite their size, they operate as a collection of small, autonomous teams that can move fast. Tesla and SpaceX maintain this same ethos - they're willing to blow up rockets to learn faster than their competitors.
The uncomfortable truth is that gut feel and rapid changes in direction - the very things that make board members nervous - are the true factors of long-term success. Companies that make decisions based on intuition and lived experience make lasting impact. Those that rely solely on data and committee consensus fade into irrelevance.
I've built my companies with this principle at the core. When we spotted an opportunity or identified a problem, we didn't form a committee. We tested, learned, and adapted. Sometimes we were wrong, but we were wrong fast and cheap rather than wrong slow and expensive.
Here's what airlines are missing: there's a massive gap in the market between premium airlines and private jets. A whole generation of crypto-rich, tech-savvy travellers would pay substantially more for an airline that actually understood technology.
Forget the antiquated Economy, Business, First class structure. Think SaaS-style tiers: Standard, Premium, Ultimate. Each tier wouldn't just offer bigger seats - it would provide genuinely different technological experiences. Imagine boarding a plane where the internet actually works, where you can pay with crypto, where the entertainment system isn't running on Windows XP.
The tech-first approach would be the core differentiator. Not just functional internet, but genuinely excellent connectivity powered by Starlink or similar. Not just accepting crypto payments as a gimmick, but building the entire payment infrastructure around modern financial rails.
Starting an airline with new aircraft would take 15 years - the order books at Boeing and Airbus are that backed up. But refurbishing used aircraft? That's a different story. You could test this concept within 18 months using refurbished planes, validate the model, then scale.
This isn't fantasy. The technology exists. The market exists. The only thing missing is someone willing to challenge the big ship problem that defines modern aviation. Someone who understands that security protocols and regulations can coexist with genuine innovation.
We're living in the greatest time to be a startup founder. Never before has the speed advantage been so pronounced. Whilst big companies are forming committees to discuss AI strategy, startups are already three iterations deep into their AI-powered products.
The packet loss on this flight isn't just an inconvenience - it's a symptom of a dying business model. Companies that can't innovate, that can't move fast, that can't trust their gut feel over their spreadsheets, are already dead. They just don't know it yet.
Big companies must become nimble like startups or phase out. There's no middle ground in the AI era. You either adapt quickly or get disrupted by someone who will. The choice isn't between moving fast or moving carefully - it's between moving fast or becoming irrelevant.
The lean startup methodology isn't just for startups anymore. It's for survival. Every company needs to rediscover their ability to pivot, to trust intuition, to move at startup speed. Because in a world where a small team can disrupt an entire industry in months, being a big ship isn't an advantage - it's a death sentence.
Corporate structures must adapt to survive. The companies that recognise this and restructure themselves for nimbleness will thrive. Those that don't will join the graveyard of former giants who thought size alone would protect them. The irony is that the bigger you are, the more you need to think small. The more successful you become, the more you need to remember what it felt like to be hungry, scrappy, and willing to pivot based on what you learn.
As this plane descends and my $19.99 internet continues to not work, I'm reminded that every frustration is an opportunity. Every big company failing is a startup's chance. We're witnessing the dawn of the startup era - where speed, adaptability, and gut feel matter more than size, resources, and committee consensus.
The future belongs to the nimble.
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