Clayton Christensen, father of "disruptive innovation," dies at 67

Clayton Christensen, best known for his 1997 business management book “The Innovator’s Dilemma: When New Technologies Cause Great Firms to Fail,” died of cancer treatment complications on Thursday at age 67, according to the Deseret News.

Why it matters: Christensen’s theory of “disruptive innovation” has influenced generations of Silicon Valley entrepreneurs seeking to upend entire industries, making the word “disruption” part of startup zeitgeist.