A Disruptive Innovation Example: Data Domain, Inc.

Title: A Disruptive Innovation Example: Data Domain, Inc.

Speaker: Kai Li, Princeton University

Time: 2:00pm, Jan. 8, 2013

Venue: FIT building 1-315

Abstract:Data Domain, Inc. is an example of successful Silicon Valley startup with disruptive technologies during the past decade. The company started in 2001 with the mission to create and deploy deduplication storage products to replace tapes in data centers. The company went public in 2007 and acquired by EMC Corporation in 2009. In 2010, the revenue of Data Domain product line exceeded the tape automation market. Last year, its revenue reached ~$2B with ~77% gross margin.

How was Data Domain created? What makes Data Domain successful? In this talk, I will use my own experience to answer these two questions and also present my views on the creation of disruptive innovations, the relationship between academic research and innovation, and why most large companies are incapable of disruptive innovations.

 Bio:Kai Li is a Paul M. Wythes '55, P'86 and Marcia R. Wythes P'86 Professor at Princeton University, where he worked as a faculty member since 1986. Before joining Princeton University, he received his Ph.D. degree from Yale University. His research expertise is in building parallel and distributed systems, deduplication storage systems, and data analysis and search for large datasets. He co-founded Data Domain, Inc. in 2001, serving in roles as the initial CEO, CTO and Consulting Chief Scientist. He is a Member of the National Academy of Engineering, a Fellow of the ACM, and a Fellow of the IEEE.