Looking Back at 10 Years of Snapchat

Creative destruction plays a key role in entrepreneurship and economic development. Coined by economist Joseph Schumpeter in 1942, the theory of “creative destruction” suggests that business cycles operate under long waves of innovation. Specifically, as markets are disrupted, key clusters of industries have outsized effects on the economy. Take the railway industry, for example. At the turn of the 19th century, railways completely reshaped urban demographics and trade. Similarly, the internet disrupted entire industries—from media to retail. The above infographic shows how innovation cycles have impacted economies since 1785, and what’s next for the future. Innovation Cycles: The Six Waves From the first wave of textiles and water power in the industrial revolution, to the internet in the 1990s, here are the six waves of innovation and their key breakthroughs. First WaveSecond WaveThird WaveFourth WaveFifth WaveSixth Wave Water Power Textiles Iron Steam Rail Steel Electricity Chemicals Internal-Combustion Engine Petrochemicals Electronics Aviation Digital Network Software New Media Digitization (AI, IoT, AV, Robots & Drones) Clean Tech 60 years55 years50 years40 years30 years25 years Source: Edelsen Institute, Detlef Reis During the first wave of the Industrial Revolution, water power was instrumental in manufacturing paper, textiles, and iron goods. Unlike the mills of…
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