More than two decades ago, I co-founded my first company, Tira Wireless. The business went through several iterations, and eventually, we landed on building a mobile content delivery product. We raised roughly $30M in funding, which was a significant amount at the time. We even ranked as Canada’s Third Fastest Growing Technology Company in the Deloitte Technology Fast 50.

We had a good run, but eventually, Tira had to shut its doors.

We made numerous strategic mistakes, and I learned a lot—lessons that, quite frankly, helped me make far better decisions when I later started Wattpad.

One of the most important mistakes we made was falling into the “bridge technology” trap.

What is the “bridge technology” trap?

Reflecting on significant “platform shifts” over recent decades reveals a pattern: each shift unleashes waves of innovation. Consider the PC revolution in the late 20th century, the widespread adoption of the internet and cloud computing in the 2000s, and the mobile era in the 2010s. These shifts didn’t just create new opportunities; they also created significant pain points as the world tried to leap from one technology to another. Many companies emerged to solve problems arising from these changes.

Tira started when the world began its transition from web to mobile. Initially, there were countless mobile platforms and operating systems. These idiosyncrasies created a huge pain point, and Tira capitalized on that. But in a few short years, mobile consolidated into just two major players—iOS and Android. The pain point rapidly disappeared, and so did Tira’s business.

Similarly, most of these “bridge technology” companies perform very well during the transition because they solve a critical, short-term pain point. However, as the world completes the transition, their business disappears. For instance, numerous companies focused on converting websites into iPhone apps when the App Store launched. Where are they now?

Some companies try to leverage what they’ve built and pivot into something new. But building something new is challenging enough, and maintaining a soon-to-be-declining bridge business while transitioning into a new one is even harder. This is akin to the innovator’s dilemma: successful companies often struggle with disruptive innovation, torn between innovating (and risking profitable products) or maintaining the status quo (and risking obsolescence).

As an investor, it makes no sense to invest in a “bridge” company that is fully expected to pivot within a few years. A pivot should be a Plan B, not Plan A. It’s extremely rare for bridge technology companies to become great, venture-scale investments. In fact, I can’t think of any off the top of my head.

We are currently in the midst of a tectonic AI platform shift. We’re seeing a huge volume of pitches, which is incredibly exciting. Many of these startups built great technologies and products. However, a significant number of these pitches also represent bridge technologies. As the current AI platform shift matures, these bridge technologies will lose relevance. Sometimes, it’s obvious they’re bridge technologies; other times, it requires significant thought to identify them. This challenge is intellectually stimulating, and I enjoy every moment of it. Each analysis informs us of what the future looks like, and just as importantly, what it will not look like. With each passing day, we gain stronger conviction about where the world is heading. It’s further strengthening our “seeing the future is our superpower” muscle, and that’s the most exciting part.

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