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21 companies
WeWork
Real Estate / Co-working
WeWork became biology's most expensive teaching moment: a $47 billion cautionary tale about what happens when growth has no limiting factor. The co-wo...
Walmart
Retail
Walmart built the most efficient distribution system in retail history, then discovered efficiency has limits. From 38 stores in 1970 to 4,616 US loca...
Technology/Social Media/Fintech
The messaging app that ate China - and reorganized an entire economy around its platform. Launched in 2011 by Tencent as a messaging app, WeChat evol...
Warner-Lambert
Pharmaceuticals
Pharmaceutical company acquired by Pfizer in 2000 for $90B. Warner-Lambert had its own established hierarchy with marketing-dominant culture ('custome...
Western Union
Financial Services
Western Union appears as a contrast to M-Pesa's mutualistic model. Traditional money transfer services like Western Union charged exorbitant fees that...
Whole Foods
Organic Grocery Retail
Whole Foods serves as the case study for sexual reproduction in business - specifically, genetic recombination through M&A. When Amazon acquired Whole...
Wipro Limited
IT Services
Wipro is one of the pioneer species in India's IT ecosystem succession. Along with Infosys and TCS, Wipro helped establish India's credibility in soft...
Walgreens
Retail Pharmacy
Walgreens' partnership with Theranos reveals how visual credibility signals can override due diligence - with catastrophic consequences. In 2013, the...
Walt Disney
Entertainment & Media
Disney demonstrates vertical integration across content creation, distribution, and theme park experiences. Platform economics through Disney+ streami...
Warby Parker
Retail/Eyewear
American eyewear company that pioneered the direct-to-consumer (DTC) model between 2010-2016. The chapter cites Warby Parker as an example of converge...
Watches of Switzerland Group
Retail
Watches of Switzerland is the UK's largest luxury watch retailer. The company operates showrooms selling premium watch brands including Rolex, Omega,...
Waymo
Autonomous Vehicles
Alphabet's self-driving car subsidiary is both a success story and a cautionary tale about corporate incubation. When Waymo emerged from Google X in...
WeChat Pay
Digital Payments / Fintech
Chinese digital payment platform integrated into the WeChat super-app, bypassing traditional card networks. Along with Alipay, WeChat Pay dominates di...
WEG
Industrial Equipment
WEG S.A. is a leading global manufacturer of electric motors, automation systems, and energy generation equipment, recognized for technological innova...
Wells Fargo
Financial Services
The bank that said 'customer-first' while paying employees to commit fraud - and learned that chemical signals always trump verbal signals. Wells Far...
Messaging / Social Media
WhatsApp was built by two founders who got rejected for jobs at Facebook - then sold the company to Facebook for $19 billion with just 55 employees. T...
WHSmith
Retail
WHSmith is a retailer operating in travel locations and high streets. The company sells books, stationery, news, and convenience products. Its travel...
Wikipedia
Non-profit/Encyclopedia
Wikipedia is a free, collaborative online encyclopedia launched in 2001 that coordinates contributions from millions of editors without central planni...
Wizz Air
Airlines
Wizz Air is the largest low-cost airline in Central and Eastern Europe. The company operates an ultra-low-cost model with unbundled services and high...
Wolters Kluwer
Technology
Wolters Kluwer is a Dutch information services company providing professional information and software. The company serves healthcare, tax, legal, and...
Workday
Technology/Enterprise Software
The cloud HR company that turned a 7-year head start into a $70 billion business - then watched competitors converge on the same solution anyway. Fou...