New to Big by David Kidder Summary

New to Big provides a blueprint for established companies to reignite growth by adopting entrepreneurial strategies like venture capital-style portfolio management and agile innovation. It introduces the Growth Operating System (Growth OS), a framework blending startup creativity with corporate scalability to solve modern business challenges. The book emphasizes customer-centric experimentation, productive failure, and installing permanent innovation capabilities.

Business leaders at legacy companies, corporate strategists, and entrepreneurs scaling ventures will benefit most. It’s ideal for organizations struggling with stagnation or seeking to institutionalize innovation. The book also appeals to investors interested in enterprise transformation frameworks.

Yes—it’s a Wall Street Journal bestseller praised for merging startup agility with corporate discipline. The actionable Growth OS framework, backed by case studies from Fortune 500 companies, offers fresh tactics for overcoming bureaucratic inertia. Its focus on customer behavior analytics and risk-tolerant culture makes it a standout in business strategy literature.

The Growth OS is a structured approach for enterprises to continuously generate new revenue streams. It combines venture capital principles (portfolio diversification, staged funding) with entrepreneurial experimentation. Companies like Cisco and Anheuser-Busch have used it to build innovation pipelines while maintaining core business stability.

The book advocates the “voice of the customer” method, prioritizing observed behaviors over self-reported preferences. For example, instead of asking users what they’d pay for a dining app, analyze actual spending patterns. This reduces bias and uncovers unmet needs, a strategy successfully deployed by tech firms in the book’s case studies.

The Test-Act-Prove (TAP) model guides corporate innovation:

1. Test: Validate ideas through small experiments
2. Act: Scale validated concepts with incremental funding
3. Prove: Transition successful ventures into core operations

This approach mirrors startup growth stages while maintaining financial discipline.

It reframes failure as productive failure—a necessary step for breakthroughs. The book cites companies that allocate 15-30% of resources to high-risk experiments, treating setbacks as data-generating learning opportunities. This mindset shift helps enterprises tolerate risk without jeopardizing core operations.

While The Lean Startup focuses on early-stage ventures, New to Big adapts agile principles for enterprises. Key distinctions:

Some argue the Growth OS requires significant cultural change that may be unrealistic for highly regulated industries. Others note the framework works best in resource-rich organizations, though the authors counter with examples of midsize firms achieving incremental wins.

As a serial entrepreneur (Clickable, Bionic) and angel investor in 40+ startups, Kidder combines hands-on experience with Fortune 500 consulting. His work with Accenture Interactive’s Bionic team directly shaped the book’s corporate innovation strategies.

Yes—the Growth OS’s emphasis on portfolio thinking and iterative testing suits mission-driven entities. A healthcare nonprofit case study in the book shows how adapting venture capital-style pilots increased community impact while maintaining donor accountability.

With AI accelerating market shifts, the book’s focus on perpetual adaptation addresses contemporary challenges. Its 2024 case study of a legacy retailer using Growth OS to navigate AI-powered competitors demonstrates ongoing applicability to digital transformation trends.