HBS Working Knowledge: Special Reports: Scott Cook: The Power of Paradigms "The biggest business innovations are not technology-based. Major breakthroughs come through a unique mindset or paradigm," said Cook (HBS MBA '76), citing eBay's revolutionary e-commerce model as an example. "There was no inventory, no guarantee that merchandise was authentic, and no easy way to pay for or receive goods—it might take a customer one week to buy a $10 item, and another two to three weeks to receive it," he remarked. "Needless to say, retailers and venture capitalists ignored him, thinking he was either irrelevant or crazy." When Benchmark Capital finally took a chance on the new auction site, eBay's IPO and subsequent stock movement rewarded the investment company with the single largest gain in the history of venture capital. The technology supporting the eBay Web site took its founder, Pierre Omidyar, less than a week to build, Cook continued. "What was significant was the power of this new paradigm or mindset," he said. "People who shift paradigms have the same facts as everyone else, but they see them differently. The end result either revolutionizes the customer experience, or the economics of the business, or both, as was the case with eBay."