A startup’s only innovation was copying an earlier media form.

Evidence

A successful (and fittingly derivative) example would be Pluto TV, a startup founded in 2013 that received early CVC investment from Universal Music Group, Sky, and UTA Ventures, among other traditional VC firms. Pluto TV’s “innovation” was to recreate the linear cable television interface of curated channels but with streaming video. In 2019, it was acquired by Paramount (then Viacom) for $340 million. — Andrew deWaard, Derivative Media, 153

Categorization

• SEED: Angle: a ‘disruptive’ streaming company’s entire innovation was a copy of linear TV curation — the derivative nature of so-called disruption.