Disrupters at the Gate
When Visionaries, Trailblazers, and Two Guys in a Garage Turn the World Upside Down
Will be published approx. on 22. September 2026
463 pages
E-Book
978-1-64687-329-6 (ISBN)
Description
Disruption comes without warning. By the time most people recognize it, it's already too late.
Disrupters at the Gate highlights the huge, world-shifting change arriving from unexpected places that turns business models and human behavior upside down.
Jeffrey I. Cole and Harlan J. Lebo offer a definitive exploration of how disruption happens, why it so often comes from unexpected outsiders, and why even the most powerful organizations consistently fail to see it coming or refuse to understand and acknowledge it.
As digital transformation, artificial intelligence, and global crises accelerate the pace of change, Disrupters at the Gate provides business leaders, policymakers, and curious minds with a clear-eyed framework for understanding disruption ? not as hype or theory, but as an enduring force that reshapes the world
Disrupters at the Gate takes the reader on a journey from the unlikely successes of ?two guys in a garage? to the spectacular failures of once-dominant companies. The book uses real-life examples to introduce a powerful method to anticipate and prepare for disruption.
Drawing upon decades of experience, Disrupters at the Gate illuminates, among many topics:
At no other point in history has disruption produced such a broad impact. Disruption shifts organizations, countries, and people's lives ? often with broad implications that can ripple through society. The impact of disruption can make companies and billionaires ? or break them.
Disrupters at the Gate highlights the huge, world-shifting change arriving from unexpected places that turns business models and human behavior upside down.
Jeffrey I. Cole and Harlan J. Lebo offer a definitive exploration of how disruption happens, why it so often comes from unexpected outsiders, and why even the most powerful organizations consistently fail to see it coming or refuse to understand and acknowledge it.
As digital transformation, artificial intelligence, and global crises accelerate the pace of change, Disrupters at the Gate provides business leaders, policymakers, and curious minds with a clear-eyed framework for understanding disruption ? not as hype or theory, but as an enduring force that reshapes the world
Disrupters at the Gate takes the reader on a journey from the unlikely successes of ?two guys in a garage? to the spectacular failures of once-dominant companies. The book uses real-life examples to introduce a powerful method to anticipate and prepare for disruption.
Drawing upon decades of experience, Disrupters at the Gate illuminates, among many topics:
- From the moment Larry Page and Sergey Brin created Google, they expected the world's most popular application to be disrupted. They just did not expect disruption to take 25 years ? and when it came, they were not ready.
- How the simple idea to ship and deliver cargo in the same container transformed the world economy.
- Of the world's 10 biggest companies in 1980, only two made the same list in 2000, and none in 2020. At the same time, technology grew from one in 1980 to eight of ten in 2020.
- How COVID-19 became the first disruption ever that affected everyone, everywhere, all at once.
- For 60 years, scientists have said that AI would have great potential ? and that's all. That view abruptly forever in November of 2022.
- How the demise of coal-burning stoves led to the creation of one of the world's most popular toys.
- Why Xerox and Kodak should be bigger than Apple, Google, or Amazon ? but aren't, and why Rochester, New York, should have been the American capital of innovation.
- How the recording industry had to stop forcing customers to pay for music they did not want.
- Whose legendary product launches inspired Steve Jobs introduction of the iPhone and iPad?
- How overweight visitors almost ruined Disneyland's most popular attraction.
- Why Uber had no business being in the transportation business.
- How HBO and cable succeeded by discovering outer space.
- Why longer lifespans may not be all good news.
- How Sweden, in one moment, converted driving from the left side of the road to the right.
- How a blunder that made perfect sense almost wrecked the world's best-known product.
At no other point in history has disruption produced such a broad impact. Disruption shifts organizations, countries, and people's lives ? often with broad implications that can ripple through society. The impact of disruption can make companies and billionaires ? or break them.
More details
Persons
Jeffrey Cole is one of the world's leading voices on media, technology, and the digital future, spending more than three decades tracking change and anticipating what comes next.
Cole founded the World Internet Project?the longest-running global study of online behavior, spanning 27 years in 35 countries?and now directs the Center for the Digital Future at the USC Annenberg School. As a UCLA professor, Cole taught more than 35,000 students and twice received the Distinguished Teaching Award.
Cole has advised four U.S. presidential administrations, the FCC, Congress, and the Department of Defense, along with global government leaders. His industry clients include Microsoft, Sony, WPP, Time Warner, AT&T, CBS, NBC, ABC, HP, Ericsson, and Coca-Cola. He co-founded the Global Disruption Investment Fund, identifying companies poised to disrupt and be disrupted.
In 2022, Cole received the Ellis Island Medal of Honor for Americans who dedicate their lives to community and the world.
Harlan J. Lebo is an award-winning journalist, historian, and author whose work has explored media, culture, and technological change for more than four decades. He has written extensively about the film and entertainment industries, journalism, and the evolution of media institutions.
A senior fellow at the Center for the Digital Future, Lebo is the author of several acclaimed nonfiction books and major studies on the impact of technology. His work is known for its depth of reporting, historical insight, and narrative clarity. In Disrupters at the Gate, he brings a historian's perspective and a journalist's eye to the stories of transformative change.
Cole founded the World Internet Project?the longest-running global study of online behavior, spanning 27 years in 35 countries?and now directs the Center for the Digital Future at the USC Annenberg School. As a UCLA professor, Cole taught more than 35,000 students and twice received the Distinguished Teaching Award.
Cole has advised four U.S. presidential administrations, the FCC, Congress, and the Department of Defense, along with global government leaders. His industry clients include Microsoft, Sony, WPP, Time Warner, AT&T, CBS, NBC, ABC, HP, Ericsson, and Coca-Cola. He co-founded the Global Disruption Investment Fund, identifying companies poised to disrupt and be disrupted.
In 2022, Cole received the Ellis Island Medal of Honor for Americans who dedicate their lives to community and the world.
Harlan J. Lebo is an award-winning journalist, historian, and author whose work has explored media, culture, and technological change for more than four decades. He has written extensively about the film and entertainment industries, journalism, and the evolution of media institutions.
A senior fellow at the Center for the Digital Future, Lebo is the author of several acclaimed nonfiction books and major studies on the impact of technology. His work is known for its depth of reporting, historical insight, and narrative clarity. In Disrupters at the Gate, he brings a historian's perspective and a journalist's eye to the stories of transformative change.
