When I talk about disruptive businesses, I’m talking about companies that change and shift the innate processes and systems that we’re used to. Businesses that find a way to better solve individual and collective challenges and use tech layers to implement those solutions.

You’ll find most of the Taxi companies who have tried to respond to Uber have done so by releasing their own app, falsely believing that the reason people choose the service is because they can use it via their phone. And sure, that’s a a part of it. But the deeper disruption was the entire experience. The entire improved user experience. The Taxi companies released the tech without the disruption.

These apps fail. Every time. They fail because they completely miss the point. They fail because Taxi companies see themselves as being disrupted by an app. The truth is, they’re being disrupted by an experience.

They’re being disrupted by a service provider who has found a way to make the experience of catching a ride better than theirs. They don’t understand this, and it’s what is driving them out of business.

For any other startup, this is a crucial lesson. You have to look at the technology you develop in the right way. It’s not enough of a differentiation on its own, and being able to use an app or a new piece of tech isn’t going to make people choose you over another option.

Disruption is all about creating a better experience. This is the case in every instance. Canva is disruptive to the design industry not because it’s cheaper, but because it’s cloud based and uses a drag and drop interface everyone understands.

It’s disruptive because it provides its users with simple experience that lets them design something beautiful, without installing software or learning a set of skills.

If you’re working on something that you see as being disruptive, you have to make sure that you’re disrupting the previous experience, and doing it well. It’s not always about being shinier — it’s about how it makes your users feel.