Apr 28, 2015, 7:47 PM ETConference Presentation, Panel, Fireside Chat

Technology, Creativity, Values: What Drives the New Disruptors?

Fundamental Shift: Successful modern disruptors are redefining business by rejecting the traditional disdain for stakeholders (employees, shareholders, customers) in favor of building a unified, respectful community.
Community as Strategy: The primary differentiator is the integration of all constituent groups into a single ecosystem, treating "fans" and "players" with the same level of reverence as traditional "customers."
Long-Term vs. Short-Term: Founders explicitly reject quarterly earnings pressure in favor of long-term relationship building, viewing deep customer loyalty as the driver of sustainable profitability rather than a cost.

Hiring Philosophy: The company mandates that employees be gamers, creating a near-total overlap between the workforce and the user base to ensure deep empathy for micro-decision making.
Organizational Scale: Founded 9 years ago; currently employs approximately 1,700 people headquartered in Los Angeles.
Decision Framework: The "player philosophy" drives all decisions, moving from intuition back to data, acknowledging that algorithms cannot replace creative intuition in game design.
Feedback Loop: The company utilizes real-time feedback loops via test environments and community questions to validate changes, though they retain the right to make intuitive choices that the community may initially reject.

Early Tech Adoption: The band named themselves "Linkin Park" in 1999 specifically to secure the .com domain, demonstrating an ingrained reliance on technology from inception.
Fan Engagement Metrics: The band maintains 67 million followers on Facebook, identifying that over two-thirds of their fanbase is international (ages 13–35, 50/50 gender split).
In-Person Access: Despite stadium-scale touring (e.g., 5 dates in China), the band insists on holding in-person meet-and-greets with 75 fans per show to maintain authentic connection.
Investment Activity: The band operates "Machine Shop Ventures," a VC fund making investments in tech and music startups, citing a desire to value talent and equity in the workplace.
Social Mission: "Music for Relief," founded in 2005, has responded to 24 global disasters across four continents and planted one million trees.

Business Evolution: The company pivoted its business model three times in four years, evolving from a simple gym booking tool to a broad "experience" platform (e.g., ice skating, movies).
User Base: Approximately 65% of users are new to fitness, with the platform successfully removing the "cognitive load" and financial friction associated with signing up for classes.
Growth Metrics: Expanded from 4 to 40 employees in eight months; now operating in six cities with a launch of a new city every month, having booked over 500,000 reservations.
Stakeholder Balance: The company manages a dual ecosystem of studio partners and members, constantly adjusting to ensure neither side is over-served at the expense of the other.
Talent Recruitment: The company hires directly from its user base (account management, design), leveraging the passion of users who actively seek to work for the brand.

Market Opportunity: Identified a $100 billion global eyewear industry controlled by a single conglomerate (EssilorLuxottica), characterized by 10x–20x markups and less than 1% of sales being online.
Mission Integration: The "Buy a Pair, Give a Pair" model has resulted in over 1 million pairs of glasses distributed to people in need via trained entrepreneurs globally.
Financial Impact of Giving: The company provides glasses that increase recipients' income by 35%, with the majority of that income reinvested into family health and education.
Retail Strategy: Initially designed as D2C, the company pivoted to omnichannel after discovering high demand for physical try-ons; sales per square foot in stores rival Tiffany & Co., second only to Apple.
Social Proof: Employees who have been with the company for three years are flown to partner countries (e.g., Dominican Republic) to witness the impact firsthand.
Employee Criteria: Hiring focuses on three pillars: passion for the mission, curiosity (questioning the status quo), and proactivity.

Reframing "Fans": Linkin Park explicitly distinguishes "fans" from "customers," arguing fans deserve higher levels of attention and respect due to their adoration, creating a two-way responsibility.
Metrics of Success: Companies obsessively track Net Promoter Scores (NPS); Warby Parker and Riot Games report NPS in the 80s–90s, significantly higher than industry averages.
Empowerment to Solve: Warby Parker employees are empowered to solve immediate customer crises (e.g., providing free glasses to victims of a fire) without managerial approval, prioritizing long-term value over short-term margin.
Content Efficiency: Linkin Park treats its brand like a startup, using single creative assets (e.g., album art) to serve multiple functions (merch, tour visuals, press), streamlining operations.
Future Outlook: All panelists emphasize that the "disruption" lies in the relationship, not just the product, with a focus on evolving with the user lifecycle (e.g., Warby Parker anticipating customers aging and requiring different products).

Brandon Beck: "We can't test our way into designing a great experience... there's always gonna have to be a degree of design and intuition and sort of creative choices."
Payal Kadakia: "I want to disrupt people's lives... I want them to say yes to doing the activities... not be saying, 'I can't do this'."
Dave Gilboa: "Short-term [earnings pressure] is such a key word... relationships for successful and healthy companies are measured in years or decades."
Brad Delson: "If you don't respect me enough to put a human behind your company... in a world where there's less and less switching costs, it's over."
Mike Shinoda: "Fans are not constituents. Fans are not customers. Fans are people to give you a higher level of adoration and attention."