BusinessWeek recently interviewed Fishworks' own Mike Shapiro concluding that "Innovation Isn't Just for Startups". It's well worth a read; here's a brief excerpt:
What Shapiro and Cantrill realized from this [examination of the market] was that they had to devise a genuinely "disruptive product" — not just a souped-up version of what was available. Because of the hassle and expense, customers weren't going to scrap their existing data-storage solutions unless Sun came up with something far superior. "We had to cost half as much and be twice as fast," Shapiro says.
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With hundreds of customers out of the gate, the Sun Storage 7000 Series has definitely established itself—and Fishworks, which Shapiro continues to run, could well prove one of the hidden gems of the Oracle acquisition. In the meantime, the new product line stands as powerful proof of what Drucker preached: When it comes to innovation, it's smarts, not size, that matter most.
For more on the story of Fishworks, take a look at Bryan's post on the subject.