It’s a rule in Big Tech: Whenever companies reach a large enough size, they stop innovating. For whatever reason, their creative juices runneth dry.
They simply… stop.
Google, Facebook, Apple, Microsoft — it happened to all of them. Little by little, America’s most innovative companies lost their ability to innovate.
And today, they only grow by acquiring outside startups.
Google leveraged its search engine revenue to acquire Android, YouTube, Fitbit, Wiz, and DeepMind. Facebook bought Instagram, WhatsApp, and Oculus. Apple owes its renaissance to acquiring NeXT, and later bought Siri, Beats, and Shazam. Microsoft acquired everything from Forethought (precursor to PowerPoint), Hotmail, LinkedIn, Skype, GitHub, Visio, Minecraft, Activision Blizzard, and a whole lot more.
You’d expect a deep-pocketed tech company with tens of thousands of highly-trained employees, first-mover advantage, tons of resources and/or industry contacts, and an R&D budget in the BILLIONS to have a big competitive edge, but nah. Turns out that successful innovation is less about the dollars and structure — and more about the vision and freedom.
(Which is a cautionary tale that today’s AI monoliths would be wise to heed.)
In hindsight, Steve Jobs was the last of the CEO innovators — the Willy Wonka of Big Tech. He wowed us with the iPhone, iPad, iPod, and iTunes. He developed new ideas in-house, smoothed out the rough edges, and revealed his latest, greatest creations in grand unveilings.
But that’s not how it’s done anymore. Hasn’t been for at least a decade. Big companies today grow by acquiring, not by innovating.
The same thing is about to happen to the Democratic Party.
When was the last time the donkeys developed anything new? A new plan, a new proposal, a new solution — or even a new idea? When was the last time a member of the Democratic establishment/DNC said something that made you go, “Wow, I never thought about it like that before?”
It’s been 50+ years, because their tactics, rhetoric, and ideas are all throwbacks to the 1960s.
By contrast, the Republican Party still spews new ideas like a nimble startup: Trump Accounts, tariffs, Greenland, Opportunity Zones, DOGE, the Space Force, the Abraham Accords — and that’s just during the MAGA era! Not every idea was a home run, but at least the GOP is trying.
The Democrats have given up.
I suspect this “innovation gap” was a self-fulfilling manifestation of both parties’ philosophies: Republicans are the free market party. The strength of a free market is its responsiveness to changes in the marketplace — with the invisible hand and dollar voting. So if you’re predisposed to think of our world this way, you’re probably already a Republican.
And thus, you already value responsiveness. It’s hardwired into your DNA: Free men, trading freely, in pursuit of their mutual benefit, are the ultimate expression of liberty.
“Build a better mousetrap, and the world will beat a path to your door.”
It’s how we became the innovation party. It’s why we prioritize new ideas. And it’s why, even after the sun sets on the Trump years, the GOP will continue to innovate.
Hellbound and Down 