Comment by firebones

But even before reuse, the "DNA" point can't be overlooked, though. Success breeds a belief that "our differentiators" need to be considered and baked into subsequent products. More often than not, those constraints lead to situations where you're fitting a square peg into a round hole, as with Skype and P2P messaging.

What saves some companies from this is a core DNA that can be interpreted in a very liberal and malleable fashion. For instance, Amazon is about distribution--be it products, bits, computing power. Facebook is about social connection (not P2P or a particular narrowing of tech). Of course, maybe that's just survivorship bias...no one keeps a good directory of the graveyard of corporate DNA that was as similarly broad.

Now whether that is a function of articulating flexible DNA, or the flexibility of the decision makers...I don't know. Either way, fixed mindsets close down adaptivity to new opportunities.