I am being interviewed by an MIT Sloan student about the challenges companies face trying to catch the next S curve. My answer is simple: They cannot stomach the J curve.
J-curves track the negative financial performance of companies as they launch themselves into the bottom half of an S curve. This performance gets a lot worse before it gets better. Venture capital understands this. It is designed to invest in J curves. Its limited partners have signed up to support the effort.
