The Voltage Effect

"A leading economist answers one of today's trickiest questions: why do some great ideas make it big while others fail to take off? 'Scale' has become a favored buzzword in the startup world. But scale isn't just about accumulating more users or capturing more market share. It's about whether an idea that takes hold in a small group can do the same in a much larger one--whether you're growing a small business, rolling out a diversity and inclusion program, or delivering billions of doses of a vaccine. Translating an idea into widespread impact, says University of Chicago economist John A. List, depends on one thing only: whether it can achieve 'high voltage': the ability to be replicated at scale"--