A lot of media companies have stared into the abyss, and kept on walking into it. Blockbuster, newspapers, television studios -- all of them have clung to outdated business models and not profited from the upside of change in their industry.

Barnes and Noble stands out as a company that has had the courage to do things differently. They have disrupted their own core business with Nook; they have picked a handful of target markets where they really want to win, and they're not trying to expose themselves on all fronts. They are relentlessly experimenting, and they're humble about how much they know regarding how their industry is going to evolve. That is very unusual, but it makes them quite a viable company, even in an industry that's in the midst of construction.

Yes. In big companies, executives tend to approach new markets just as they would established markets. They create medium- to long-term plans; they allocate resources over at least an annual basis; they hold executives accountable for meeting clear targets.