Private
232 companies
Stripe
Financial Technology / Payments
Stripe made payment integration take seven lines of code instead of six months and $100,000. But that simplicity required 10× more engineering effort...
IKEA
Retail / Furniture
IKEA demonstrates 80 years of phototropic discipline - systematically bending toward resource gradients while maintaining core identity. Founded in ru...
ByteDance
Technology / Social Media
$155 billion revenue in 2024 (38% growth) and $48 billion in Q2 2025—surpassing Meta's $46 billion—crowns ByteDance as the world's largest social medi...
SpaceX
Aerospace
SpaceX's valuation exploded from $200 billion in mid-2024 to $800 billion by December 2025—quadrupling in 18 months while remaining private. This expo...
15Five
Technology
Performance management software that mimics the continuous feedback loops in immune systems—constant small adjustments prevent catastrophic failures....
365 Data Science
EdTech - Data Science Education
Education that grows like bamboo—modular lessons that stack rapidly, each building on the last. Students advance through clear segments rather than mo...
6K Energy
Battery Materials
Produces battery materials using plasma technology like extremophile bacteria in hydrothermal vents—thriving in conditions (extreme heat) that competi...
6sense
Marketing Technology
Predicts B2B buyer intent like wolves reading prey herds—analyzing digital tracks (website visits, content downloads) to identify which targets show w...
80 Acres Farms
Vertical Farming
Indoor vertical farms that reject seasonal rhythms entirely—like antarctic icefish that evolved in extreme isolation. Every variable controlled: no we...
A Cloud Guru
Education
Cloud training that proliferated like viruses—short, practical videos that replicate student-to-student. Acquired by Pluralsight after spreading faste...
Absorb
EdTech - Corporate Learning
Structures knowledge transmission across organizational populations, tracking which skills each member has absorbed and which competencies remain dorm...
Accel
Venture Capital
Jim Breyer spent years studying enterprise software patterns before walking into a Harvard dorm room in 2005. When he saw Facebook, his pattern-recogn...
Acorns
Financial Services
Gathers financial morsels like a squirrel caching acorns, rounding spare change into distributed storage that compounds through patient accumulation c...
ActiveCampaign
Marketing Automation
Automates customer signaling like ant pheromone trails, chemical messages trigger coordinated responses across the colony without central command.
Adept
Artificial Intelligence
Builds AI tool-users like New Caledonian crows fashioning hooks from wire, foundation models manipulate software environments with the behavioral flex...
AeroFarms
Vertical Farming
Stacks leafy greens in vertical towers under LED arrays, circulating nutrients through aeroponic roots without soil, compressing acres into warehouse...
Aéropostale
Retail - Teen Apparel
Aéropostale's 2016 bankruptcy ended a teen apparel chain that had thrived on logo-heavy casual wear before fashion shifted away from branded clothing....
Ag Leader Technology
Agricultural Technology
Embeds sensors in tractors and planters to map soil conditions and crop yields at meter-scale precision, turning field data into variable-rate applica...
Age of Learning
EdTech - K-12
Designs interactive curriculum games that adapt to young children's reading and math progress, scaffolding skill development through reward loops and...
Agrivi
Agricultural Technology
Cloud software that tracks planting dates, pesticide applications, and harvest yields across farm parcels, aggregating agronomic data to optimize crop...
AI21 Labs
Artificial Intelligence
Builds large language models like selective breeding programs—iterating on Jurassic models to create AI that generates, summarizes, and analyzes text....
Airbyte
Data Integration
Open-source connectors that pipe data from SaaS tools into warehouses, normalizing schemas and syncing records continuously to feed analytics and mach...
Airtable
Software
Airtable combines spreadsheet functionality with database capabilities. Platform economics with network effects through no-code adoption.
Albert
Financial Services
Banking app that analyzes spending patterns to automatically transfer savings, negotiating bill reductions and advancing paychecks against predicted d...
Alfa Romeo
Automotive Manufacturing
Alfa Romeo burns resources on beauty and speed like a peacock grows its tail - the racing heritage and emotional design are expensive signals of engin...
Alpaca
Financial Services
Alpaca is API infrastructure like coral reefs provide structure - developers build trading apps on top of their brokerage foundation. The platform doe...
Ambri
Energy Storage
Ambri stores grid energy in molten metal like camels store water in tissue - liquid electrodes hold charge for hours or days, releasing it when demand...
Amplify
EdTech - K-12
Amplify teaches reading and math like corvids pass tool use between generations - cultural transmission through structured practice. Their K-12 digita...
Amplitude
Analytics
Amplitude detects patterns in user behavior like predators read prey movement - tracking clicks, sessions, feature usage to predict what drives growth...
Anchorage Digital
Digital Asset Banking
Anchorage stores crypto like squirrels cache acorns - institutional custody for digital assets. The bank is a secured vault, keys protected by federal...
Andreessen Horowitz
Venture Capital
Most venture capital firms provide capital. Andreessen Horowitz built a coral reef. When Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz launched a16z in 2009, they...
Anduril Industries
Defense Technology
Anduril Industries doubled revenue to $1 billion in 2024 (138% growth from $420 million in 2023) while raising $2.5 billion at $30.5 billion valuation...
Anheuser-Busch InBev
Alcoholic Beverages
AB InBev's dominance rests on economies of scale that create cost advantages competitors can't match. Controlling 25% of global beer volume with $59.8...
Anthropic
Artificial Intelligence
Notion combines docs, wikis, and databases into one workspace - knowledge management that grows with teams. The product is mycelial, connecting notes...
Anyscale
AI Infrastructure
Anyscale distributes AI compute across clusters like slime molds coordinate decentralized processing. Their Ray framework lets machine learning models...
Apollo Education Group
For-Profit Education
Apollo ran University of Phoenix as industrial-scale education - online degrees mass-produced for working adults. The model was r-selection, enrolling...
Apollo.io
Sales Technology
Apollo.io mines B2B contact data and automates sales outreach - prospecting tools that turn LinkedIn profiles into email sequences. The platform is pr...
Appcues
Product Management
Appcues guides new users through software features - product tours and tooltips that teach without documentation. Their onboarding flows are learned b...
AppDynamics
Observability
AppDynamics monitors application performance like ants scan colony health - real-time detection of slowdowns and failures. Their platform is distribut...
AppHarvest
Vertical Farming
AppHarvest grows tomatoes in giant greenhouses - controlled environment agriculture that ignores weather and seasons. Indoor farms are artificial ecos...
Argo AI
Autonomous Vehicles
Argo AI developed autonomous vehicle systems - sensor fusion and neural networks replacing human drivers. The company burned billions from Ford and VW...
Auth0
Identity Management
Auth0 acts like a bouncer at the cell membrane—verifying identity, controlling access, and logging every entry. Their identity platform sits between a...
Automation Anywhere
Enterprise Software
Automation Anywhere's RPA bots mimic repetitive human tasks—data entry, form filling, email sorting—like weaver ants following chemical trails. Their...
Axiom Space
Space Infrastructure
Axiom builds commercial space stations—artificial habitats in orbit like termite mounds in the desert, controlled environments that support life where...
Babbel
EdTech - Language Learning
Babbel teaches languages through spaced repetition and conversational practice—learning systems that mirror how children acquire speech. Their app gam...
BambooHR
Human Resources Technology
BambooHR manages employee data for SMBs—onboarding, time-off, performance reviews. They're digital HR systems that automate people management, replaci...
Battery Resources
Battery Recycling
Battery Resources extracts lithium like extremophile bacteria mining minerals - specialized enzymes (technology) unlock resources in conditions others...
Benchling
Biotech Software
Benchling built biotech OS through network effects - each lab that joins makes platform stickier for suppliers, creating mycelial connections througho...
Benchmark
Venture Capital
Wolf packs share kills equally regardless of who made the takedown. This venture capital firm structured itself the same way. When Bob Kagle, Bruce Du...
Bentley Motors Limited
Luxury Automotive
Bentley executes costly signaling at industrial scale - hand-stitched leather and 12-cylinder engines broadcast wealth more clearly than mere transpor...
Better.com
Fintech
Better.com grew through hyperphagia in low-rate environment, then faced starvation when Fed tightened - no stored fat for mortgage winter.
Betterment
Financial Services
Robo-advisor Betterment automates like quorum sensing bacteria - investment decisions trigger algorithmic responses when thresholds crossed, no human...
BeyondTrust
Cybersecurity
BeyondTrust guards corporate immune systems - detecting insider threats through behavioral anomaly recognition, like T-cells identifying corrupted sel...
Binance
Cryptocurrency Exchange
Crypto exchange Binance exhibits geographic migration under regulatory pressure - headquarters moves between jurisdictions like nomadic herds seeking...
Bird
Transportation
E-scooter company Bird exhibited hyperphagia without fat storage - gorged on VC capital during abundance but had no reserves when funding winter arriv...
BitGo
Crypto Custody
Crypto custody provider BitGo functions as immune system memory - stores private keys like B-cells storing antibody templates, preventing loss through...
Blackbird Ventures
Venture Capital
Blackbird functions as Australia's apex venture predator—ranking #1 in anonymous founder surveys while backing Canva from seed to $40 billion valuatio...
Bloc
Education
Coding bootcamp Bloc compresses skill development through immersive intensity - metabolic sprints produce developers faster than traditional four-year...
Blockchain.com
Cryptocurrency
Crypto wallet Blockchain.com hoards user assets like squirrels caching nuts - custody creates recurring revenue from stored value requiring minimal on...
Blue Origin
Space & Aerospace
Bezos rocket company Blue Origin banks founder wealth for patient development - elephant gestation producing complex offspring without quarterly earni...
Blue Planet Systems
Carbon Utilization
Carbon capture startup Blue Planet mineralizes CO2 into construction aggregate - turning atmospheric waste into building blocks like coral polyps secr...
Bolt
Mobility & Delivery
Estonian mobility and delivery platform competing with Uber across Europe and Africa. Offers ride-hailing, food delivery, and scooter sharing services...
Bonusly
Technology
Peer recognition platform Bonusly mimics reciprocal altruism - small reward exchanges build social capital, creating cooperative networks through repe...
Boring Company
Infrastructure
Musk tunnel venture Boring Company digs like naked mole rats - subterranean infrastructure avoiding surface congestion through three-dimensional space...
Boston Market
Restaurants - Fast Casual
Boston Market's 1998 bankruptcy ended the rotisserie chicken chain's explosive growth, demonstrating how rapid franchise expansion can create unprofit...
Bowery Farming
Vertical Farming
Vertical farm Bowery grows crops in controlled indoor stacks - decoupling from soil and weather like extremophiles adapting to hostile surface conditi...
Brainly
Education
Homework help platform Brainly operates as mutualistic network - students answer each other like mycorrhizal exchange, platform extracts value from fa...
BrainPOP
EdTech - K-12
Educational media BrainPOP spreads through school districts like beneficial virus - teacher adoption creates peer transmission across classrooms and d...
Brex
Fintech
Startup credit card Brex grew through hypergrowth targeting - R-selected strategy flooding market with underwriting, accepting losses for rapid user a...
BrightFarms
Vertical Farming
Greenhouse operator BrightFarms grows produce near cities - shortening supply chains like trees growing where water concentrates rather than where rai...
Brilliant
EdTech - Online Learning
STEM learning platform Brilliant uses spaced repetition and active problem-solving - knowledge consolidation mimics sleep-dependent memory formation i...
Buick
Automotive Manufacturing
GM's aging comfort elephant targeting Chinese middle-class and American retirees—slow-moving, reliable, built for endurance over speed. Quiet cabins a...
Byju's
Education Technology
Indian edtech python that swallowed competitors whole—acquiring WhiteHat Jr, Aakash, Epic for billions. Sales tactics mimicked cuckoo parasitism: aggr...
Byjus
Education
Indian edtech python that swallowed competitors whole—acquiring WhiteHat Jr, Aakash, Epic for billions. Sales tactics mimicked cuckoo parasitism: aggr...
Cable One, Inc.
Cable & Broadband Services
Regional broadband provider controlling small-city territories—coaxial cables strung like spider webs capturing internet demand. Infrastructure moats...
Cadillac
Luxury Automotive
GM's luxury peacock displaying chrome plumage—Escalades signaling wealth through size, Lyriq pivoting to electric sophistication. Brand heritage acts...
Calendly
Productivity Software
Meeting scheduler eliminating email tennis—available slots broadcast like bee waggle dances, invitees selecting times without coordination loops. Redu...
Cambly
EdTech - Language Learning
English tutoring platform matching learners with native speakers—conversation practice mimicking songbird apprenticeship. Gig tutors scattered globall...
Canva
Software
Canva reached $42 billion valuation in August 2025 by turning graphic design from specialist craft into commodity capability. The platform hit $3.3 bi...
Carbon Engineering
Carbon Capture
Direct air capture startup mimicking tree photosynthesis—fans pulling CO2 from atmosphere, chemical reactions concentrating greenhouse gas. Reverses c...
CarbonCure Technologies
Carbon Utilization
Injects captured CO2 into concrete during mixing—mineralization strengthening cement while sequestering carbon. Mimics coral skeleton building: conver...
CareerFoundry
Education
Online bootcamp teaching design, data, development—mentor-guided projects mimicking apprentice systems. Career services act like fledging support: hel...
Carta
Fintech
Equity management platform for startups, investors, and employees managing cap tables. Provides valuation services and secondary trading marketplace....
Chainalysis
Blockchain Analytics
Chainalysis traces crypto transactions like bloodhounds following scent - analyzing blockchain data to track illicit flows, providing transparency inf...
Character.AI
Artificial Intelligence
Character.AI spawns AI personalities like bacteria reproducing exponentially - millions of daily users conversing with synthetic characters, each inte...
Charm Industrial
Carbon Removal
Charm converts biomass into bio-oil for underground storage like squirrels caching nuts permanently - preventing agricultural waste decomposition, seq...
Checkout.com
Fintech
Payment processing platform providing infrastructure for online and in-person transactions. Processes hundreds of billions in payments annually for ma...
Chevrolet
Automotive Manufacturing
Chevrolet spans compact to truck segments like adaptive radiation - Spark to Silverado covering mass-market niches within GM's portfolio, competing th...
Chime
Financial Technology
Chime provides mobile-first banking with no monthly fees. First-mover advantage in neobanking with exponential growth.
Chorus.ai
Sales Technology
Chorus owns New Zealand's fiber infrastructure like root systems - government-separated network providing wholesale broadband, retail ISPs depending o...
Chroma
Database
Chroma provides embedded banking infrastructure like cleaner fish serving hosts - white-label financial services enabling fintechs to launch products,...
Chrysler
Automotive Manufacturing
Chrysler spans multiple segments within Stellantis - Jeep SUVs, Ram trucks, Chrysler minivans, Dodge muscle cars, each brand claiming distinct custome...
Chrysler (2009)
Automotive
Chrysler's 2009 bankruptcy was its second death in 31 years—the company had required government rescue in 1979 under Lee Iacocca. The 2009 collapse de...
Chuck E. Cheese
Entertainment/Restaurants
CEC Entertainment's 2020 bankruptcy demonstrated how single-format entertainment businesses face existential risk when their format becomes impossible...
Cineworld/Regal Cinemas
Entertainment - Theaters
Cineworld's 2022 bankruptcy dragged its Regal Cinemas subsidiary into restructuring, demonstrating how the theatrical exhibition industry faced existe...
Cirba Solutions
Battery Recycling
Cirba Solutions recycles lithium-ion batteries like decomposers processing waste - extracting valuable metals from dead batteries, returning materials...
Circle
Cryptocurrency Infrastructure
Circle issues USDC stablecoin like creating shared infrastructure - dollar-backed digital currency providing payment rails for crypto ecosystem, earni...
CircleCI
Developer Tools
CircleCI automates software deployment like ant colonies coordinating tasks - continuous integration pipelines testing and deploying code automaticall...
Claas
Agricultural Equipment
CLAAS manufactures agricultural harvesting equipment - German combine harvesters and forage equipment serving large-scale farming operations, speciali...
Clari
Sales Technology
Clari provides revenue operations platform - sales forecasting and pipeline management software using AI to predict deal outcomes, centralizing CRM da...
ClassDojo
EdTech - K-12
ClassDojo connects teachers, students, and parents - classroom communication platform used in 95% of US K-8 schools, network effects from class-level...
Clearbit
Sales Technology
Clearbit enriches customer data like hounds tracking scent - B2B data API providing company and contact information, sales and marketing teams using i...
ClickHouse
Database
ClickHouse provides analytics database - open-source columnar database optimized for real-time queries on massive datasets, developers choosing specia...
ClickUp
Project Management
ClickUp consolidates project management tools - all-in-one platform replacing disparate apps (tasks, docs, goals), network effects from team-level ado...
Climeworks
Climate Technology
Climeworks pulls CO2 from thin air like kelp farms harvest carbon from seawater - both concentrate dilute molecules through membrane interfaces. Where...
Close
Enterprise Software
Close built a CRM that turns inside sales into peregrine falcon hunts - power dialers and predictive dialers accelerate the strike, built-in calling e...
Cockroach Labs
Database
CockroachDB mirrors planarian regeneration - cut the flatworm in half and both pieces regrow complete organisms. Lose database nodes and the system se...
Coda
Productivity Software
Coda fuses documents and spreadsheets into one surface - like slime molds that merge separate cells into a single hunting organism when resources dema...
Codecademy
Education
Codecademy teaches code through immediate practice - type, execute, see results, repeat. Like capuchin monkeys learning tool use through trial and err...
Cohere
Artificial Intelligence
Cohere develops large language models for enterprise applications. Platform economics with economies of scale in AI infrastructure.
Commonwealth Fusion Systems
Fusion Energy
Commonwealth Fusion pursues net-positive fusion through magnets that confine plasma hot enough to fuse hydrogen. Like extremophile bacteria with prote...
Compass
Real Estate
Compass recruits top agents through upfront capital and tools, then captures transaction fees when properties sell. Like cleaner fish servicing large...
Connect Ventures
Venture Capital
Connect Ventures operates like a hummingbird—small body, extraordinary precision. Making only 8-10 investments per year while most seed funds spray ca...
Conservis
Agricultural Technology
Conservis coordinates modern farms - tracking which fields got planted when, fertilizer applications, harvest schedules across thousands of acres. Lik...
Constant Contact
Email Marketing
Constant Contact enables small businesses to broadcast emails to thousands - the digital equivalent of spawning events where coral release millions of...
Contentful
Enterprise Software
Contentful separates content from presentation - a headless CMS where articles, images, and data live in APIs that feed multiple frontends. Like mycor...
Conversica
Sales Technology
Conversica sends automated follow-up emails to sales leads that went cold - AI persistence hunting where software chases prospects through multi-week...
Copper
Enterprise Software
Copper builds banking APIs for fintechs - white-label infrastructure that handles deposits, transfers, and compliance so startups can launch financial...
Copy.ai
Generative AI
Copy.ai generates marketing text through language models trained to mimic human writing patterns - statistical parrots that produce grammatically corr...
Cornerstone OnDemand
Human Resources Technology
Cornerstone tracks employee skills, training compliance, and performance reviews - institutional memory for human capital management. Like chimpanzees...
Course Hero
Education
Course Hero lets students upload lecture notes and homework solutions in exchange for access to others' uploads - a knowledge commons built on recipro...
Coursera
Education
Coursera streams university lectures globally - cultural transmission that decouples learning from campus proximity. Like chimpanzees that learn nut-c...
Creandum
Venture Capital
Creandum operates like a giant sequoia—quietly growing massive while flashier species grab attention. Co-leading Spotify's Series A in 2008 when strea...
Cropio
Agricultural Technology
Cropio analyzes satellite imagery and field sensors to detect crop stress before farmers see symptoms - early warning systems for irrigation, disease,...
Cruise
Autonomous Vehicles
Cruise's October 2023 San Francisco incident—autonomous vehicle struck pedestrian, dragged 20 feet, pinned under wheel—triggered regulatory phase tran...
Culture Amp
Technology
Culture Amp reads organizational sentiment like prairie dogs listening for alarm calls. Its employee engagement platform detects cultural tremors befo...
Current
Financial Services
Current targets the young and fast-moving like r-strategists colonizing fresh territory. Its mobile-first banking spreads through viral referrals, eac...
D2L
EdTech - LMS
D2L's Brightspace learning platform adapts like neural plasticity - reshaping educational pathways based on how students actually learn. Its analytics...
Databricks
Software
Databricks hit $134 billion valuation in December 2025 by solving a problem most companies don't know they have: their data infrastructure is fragment...
DataCamp
Education
DataCamp teaches coding through micro-exercises like neurons strengthening through repetition. Its platform breaks data science into bite-sized challe...
Dataquest
EdTech - Data Science Education
Dataquest teaches data skills through project-based learning like apprentice birds watching masters hunt. Its curriculum emphasizes hands-on coding ov...
Dave
Financial Services
Dave provides cash advances like vampire bats regurgitating blood to starving colony-mates. Its app fronts payday loans up to $500, betting that avoid...
Deel
Technology
Deel handles global payroll like mycelium transferring nutrients across continents. Its platform manages compliance, contracts, and payments for remot...
Degreed
Human Resources Technology
Degreed tracks skill development like growth rings marking tree age. Its platform aggregates learning from courses, articles, and projects into compet...
Delinea
Cybersecurity
Delinea manages privileged access like castle gates controlling entry. Its identity security platform rations administrative credentials, granting tem...
Demandbase
Marketing Technology
Demandbase targets B2B buyers like predators tracking prey. Its account-based marketing platform identifies companies showing purchase intent, focusin...
Devoted Health
Healthcare
Medicare Advantage insurance provider using technology to improve senior healthcare. Vertically integrated model with own care delivery network. Value...
DigiPen Institute of Technology
For-Profit Education
DigiPen trains game developers through project-based learning. Its curriculum emphasizes hands-on creation over theory, students building playable pro...
Discord
Technology
Discord evolved from gaming voice chat to 614 million registered users across 28.4 million servers through network effects that create exponential val...
Dodge
Automotive Manufacturing
Dodge builds muscle cars through nostalgic revival. Its Charger and Challenger resurrect 1970s styling with modern powertrains, V8 engines roaring as...
Drift
Conversational Marketing
Chatbots swarm high-intent visitors the instant they land—ant-like chemical signaling applied to web traffic, mobilizing sales resources where opportu...
Duolingo
Education
Daily streak notifications tap into loss-aversion psychology—operant conditioning loops where missing one lesson triggers panic, maintaining 40M+ dail...
East Ventures
Venture Capital
East Ventures colonized Indonesia's digital economy before competitors recognized the opportunity. First investor in Tokopedia (2010) and Traveloka (2...
Eavor Technologies
Geothermal Energy
Closed-loop geothermal extracting Earth's heat—tapping thermal gradients like extremophiles harvesting chemical energy from volcanic vents. No water c...
Edpuzzle
EdTech - K-12
Interactive video platform inserting questions into educational content—active learning embedded in passive media like trap-jaw ants embedding in leaf...
Einride
Autonomous Vehicles
Autonomous electric freight trucks—removing human drivers like eliminating costly organs. Remote operation centers control fleets, cab-free designs re...
Electrify America
EV Charging Infrastructure
VW-funded EV charging network from diesel settlement—penance infrastructure becoming strategic asset like predator scavenging its own kill. Fast charg...
Envision Energy
Wind Energy & Smart Grid
Chinese wind turbine and battery maker—renewable equipment manufacturing with software integration like organisms producing structural proteins. AIoT...
Epic Games
Gaming
Epic Games develops Fortnite and Unreal Engine. Platform economics through game engine licensing with network effects.
Evernote
Note-Taking Software
Captures and stores digital notes across devices, functioning like a memory cache system where information persists through synchronized replication a...
Faire
E-commerce
B2B wholesale marketplace connecting independent retailers with brands and makers. Offers net-60 payment terms and free returns to retailers. Valued a...
Fanatics
E-commerce
Fanatics generated $8.1 billion in revenue in 2024 (+15% year-over-year), targeting $13 billion by 2026, while expanding from merchandise ($6.2 billio...
FarmLogs
Agricultural Technology
Agricultural software tracking field conditions and crop yields, sensing environmental signals like plant roots detecting soil nutrients through chemi...
Fervo Energy
Geothermal Energy
Geothermal startup drilling deep wells to tap Earth's heat, harvesting underground thermal energy like thermophilic bacteria metabolizing volcanic war...
Figma
Design Software
Figma launched in 2015 with browser-based design tools when Adobe owned professional design through decades of desktop software dominance. Adobe's leg...
Figure AI
Robotics
Humanoid robotics startup training bipedal machines for warehouse work, replicating human morphology like convergent evolution producing dolphin and i...
Fireblocks
Crypto Custody
Digital asset custody platform securing cryptocurrency transfers through multi-party computation. Private keys split across nodes, requiring threshold...
Fivetran
Data Integration
Data pipeline company extracting information from SaaS applications into warehouses. Connectors replicate database changes continuously, maintaining s...
Flatiron School
Education
Coding bootcamp offering immersive software engineering and data science programs designed to launch tech careers through intensive hands-on training.
Flink
Delivery & Logistics
German rapid grocery delivery startup promising groceries in minutes through dense networks of micro-fulfillment centers in urban neighborhoods.
Fly.io
Cloud Infrastructure
Edge computing platform running applications close to users worldwide by distributing containers across global data centers, minimizing latency.
Forever 21
Retail - Fast Fashion
Forever 21's 2019 bankruptcy was unexpected for a fast fashion retailer that had seemed to understand millennial and Gen Z consumers. The company oper...
Founders Fund
Venture Capital
Most venture capitalists hunt in packs, chasing the same deals with the same thesis. Founders Fund operates like an orca—an apex predator that targets...
Friendly's
Restaurants - Family Dining
Friendly's repeated bankruptcies (2011, 2020) illustrate how organisms can enter extinction spirals where each near-death leaves them weaker. The New...
FTX
Cryptocurrency
FTX's 2022 collapse from $32 billion to bankruptcy in 10 days represents the fastest destruction of institutional value in history. Sam Bankman-Fried'...
Google Ventures
Venture Capital
Google's venture capital arm operates like a mycorrhizal network—channeling resources from Google's massive root system to promising startups while ex...
Gopuff
Delivery & Logistics
Instant delivery service operating own micro-fulfillment centers for convenience items. Delivers snacks, drinks, and essentials in 30 minutes or less....
Gorillas
Delivery & Logistics
German ultra-fast grocery delivery startup promising delivery in 10 minutes. Raised over $1 billion in funding during the quick-commerce boom. Faced c...
Grammarly
Software
Grammarly provides AI-powered writing assistance across applications. Network effects through viral adoption with first-mover advantage.
Greylock Partners
Venture Capital
Reid Hoffman didn't just co-found LinkedIn—he codified why it worked. When he joined Greylock Partners in 2009, he brought an explicit thesis: invest...
H&M
Fashion Retail
H&M pioneered fast fashion through vertical integration that compressed trend-to-store cycles from months to weeks, but 2024 reveals the metabolic cos...
Heineken N.V.
Brewing
Heineken maintains predator-prey balance across 181 breweries in 70 countries, generating €36 billion in revenue through strategic portfolio diversifi...
Hillhouse Capital
Venture Capital
Hillhouse exemplifies concentration over diversification. Zhang Lei's philosophy—'Amidst Weak Waters Take Only One Scoop'—means 2-4 investments per ye...
HongShan
Venture Capital
HongShan (formerly Sequoia Capital China) operates as the keystone species of Chinese venture capital. With $56 billion AUM and backing of ByteDance,...
Hummingbird Ventures
Venture Capital
Hummingbird Ventures demonstrates how geographic arbitrage creates alpha. While London and Berlin VCs competed for the same deals, Hummingbird investe...
IDG Capital
Venture Capital
IDG Capital is the pioneer species of Chinese venture capital—the first organism to colonize barren territory, creating conditions for the ecosystem t...
Index Ventures
Venture Capital
Most venture capitalists evolved in a single ecosystem—Silicon Valley—and struggle to operate elsewhere. Index Ventures migrates between continents li...
J.Crew
Retail - Apparel
J.Crew's 2020 bankruptcy was the first major retail casualty of COVID-19, demonstrating how weakened companies die first in industry shocks. The prepp...
JAFCO
Venture Capital
JAFCO is Japan's institutional memory of venture capital—founded in 1973, it has witnessed and survived every boom-bust cycle in Japanese entrepreneur...
Kalera
Vertical Farming
Stacks photosynthesis vertically like coral reefs growing upward toward light - LED arrays replacing sun, nutrient solution replacing soil. Each urban...
Karat
Technology
Technical interviews as artificial selection - experienced engineers probe coding ability through standardized challenges. Companies outsource their f...
Karma Automotive
Automotive - Electric
Karma Automotive, successor to bankrupt Fisker Automotive, has struggled to achieve sustainable production after Chinese investment revived the compan...
Kaszek
Venture Capital
Kaszek demonstrates founder-turned-investor advantage at continental scale. Hernán Kazah (MercadoLibre co-founder) and Nicolás Szekasy (former Mercado...
Khosla Ventures
Venture Capital
Vinod Khosla's venture firm exemplifies r-selection investing—placing many high-risk bets on transformative technologies with the expectation that mos...
King
Mobile Gaming
Triggers compulsive engagement through color-matching patterns, like cuckoos exploiting parental instincts with exaggerated begging. Candy Crush deliv...
Kiwibot
Autonomous Vehicles
Deploys sidewalk robots that forage like ants across campus territories, following invisible trails to deliver food. Each bot operates semi-autonomous...
Klarna
Financial Technology
Klarna's 2024 return to profitability ($21 million net income after $244 million 2023 loss) demonstrates hormetic stress response: near-death experien...
Kleiner Perkins
Venture Capital
This venture capital firm's cleantech disaster is a masterclass in niche mismatch—and why the firm survived anyway. In the 2000s, John Doerr declared...
Kodiak Robotics
Autonomous Vehicles
Programs autonomous trucks to navigate highways like caribou traverse tundra, using sensor fusion to perceive environments in all weather conditions....
Kraken
Cryptocurrency
Operates cryptocurrency exchange infrastructure with the resilience of its namesake cephalopod. Their platform handles billions in daily trading volum...
Kumon
EdTech - Tutoring
Teaches mathematics through incremental difficulty progression that mirrors how organisms master skills through graduated practice. Students advance t...
La Famiglia
Venture Capital
La Famiglia exemplifies mutualistic symbiosis between old and new economies. Their LP base—family offices behind Valentino, Adidas, Swarovski, Hapag-L...
Labelbox
AI Infrastructure
Provides data labeling platforms that train machine learning models through supervised learning, mirroring how parent animals teach offspring to recog...
Lacework
Cybersecurity
Secures cloud infrastructure through behavioral anomaly detection that identifies threats like immune systems distinguish self from non-self. Their pl...
Mallinckrodt
Pharmaceutical
Mallinckrodt's two bankruptcies (2020, 2023) demonstrated how opioid liability could destroy pharmaceutical companies years after the conduct occurred...
Mars
Consumer Goods/Pet Food
Global confectionery and pet food company that acquired P&G's pet food brands (Iams, Eukanuba) for $2.9B in 2014 as part of P&G's portfolio pruning st...
Mattress Firm (2018)
Retail - Mattresses
Mattress Firm's 2018 bankruptcy came after aggressive expansion left the company with 3,000+ stores—often multiple stores on the same block competing...
Miro
Software
Miro provides collaborative whiteboard platform for distributed teams. Network effects through viral adoption with exponential growth.
Mistral AI
Artificial Intelligence
Mistral AI doubled its valuation from €5.8 billion (June 2024) to €11.7 billion (September 2025) via €1.7 billion Series C led by ASML. Revenue climbe...
Neiman Marcus
Department Store
Neiman Marcus's 2020 bankruptcy forced a luxury department store institution into restructuring after 113 years of operation. The company that had def...
Nestlé
Food & Beverage
Nestlé's $99 billion revenue empire (CHF 91.4B, 2024) spans 2,000+ brands across 187 countries, but its biological secret is redundancy layered across...
Northvolt
Energy Storage
Swedish battery manufacturer building European battery production capacity for electric vehicles. Partnerships with major automakers including VW and...
Ola (ANI Technologies Pvt. Ltd.)
Mobility & Technology
Ola is India's largest ride-hailing platform, competing with Uber in the Indian market and expanding internationally. The company has diversified into...
OpenAI
Artificial Intelligence
OpenAI demonstrates that Pacific Salmon strategy - grow at all costs, die trying - is correct in exactly 20% of situations. During the AI boom (2023-p...
Pacific Sunwear (PacSun)
Retail - Teen Apparel
PacSun's 2016 bankruptcy reflected how teen apparel chains were being destroyed by fast fashion and changing preferences. The company had defined mall...
Peak XV Partners
Venture Capital
Peak XV Partners (formerly Sequoia India) dominates Indian venture capital like an elephant dominates its territory—at $9 billion AUM, they're 10-15x...
Perplexity AI
Artificial Intelligence
Perplexity AI's valuation exploded from $520 million (January 2024) to $20 billion (September 2025)—38× in 21 months. Annualized revenue reached $148...
Pitango Venture Capital
Venture Capital
Pitango anchors Israel's venture ecosystem like a coral reef anchors marine biodiversity. Founded in 1993 under the government's Yozma program that se...
Plaid
Financial Technology
Plaid provides financial infrastructure connecting applications with bank accounts. Platform economics with network effects in fintech ecosystem.
Point Nine Capital
Venture Capital
Point Nine demonstrates how niche specialization creates moats in venture capital. By investing exclusively in B2B SaaS and B2B marketplaces—declining...
Project A Ventures
Venture Capital
Project A pioneered operational venture capital in Europe—not advisors offering opinions, but a 140-person team of engineers, designers, and marketers...
Quiznos
Restaurants - Fast Casual
Quiznos' 2014 bankruptcy followed years of decline from 5,000 locations to under 1,000, illustrating how franchise conflicts can destroy restaurant ch...
Red Bull
Beverages
Red Bull sold 12.7 billion cans in 2024 generating €11.2 billion revenue ($11.7B USD), growth slowing to 4.4% volume and 6.4% revenue as the energy dr...
Red Lobster
Restaurants - Casual Dining
Red Lobster's 2024 bankruptcy after 56 years of operation demonstrated how promotional strategies can become death sentences when unit economics break...
Revolut
Financial Services/Fintech
European fintech company founded in 2015 by Nikolay Storonsky (former Credit Suisse derivatives trader) and Vlad Yatsenko after Storonsky was charged...
Ro
Healthcare
Direct-to-consumer telehealth company offering online diagnosis and prescription services. Started with men's health, expanded to broader healthcare c...
Ruby Tuesday
Restaurants - Casual Dining
Ruby Tuesday's 2020 bankruptcy was the culmination of a decade-long decline that saw the casual dining chain shrink from 850 locations to under 250. T...
Sbarro
Restaurants - Fast Food
Sbarro's multiple bankruptcies (2011, 2014) demonstrate how mall dependency became existential risk as retail shifted online. The pizza chain's food c...
Scale AI
Artificial Intelligence
Scale AI provides data labeling for training AI models. Platform economics with economies of scale in annotation services.
Sephora
Beauty Retail
Sephora isn't a retailer—it's a constructed ecosystem where beauty brands compete for shelf space, customer attention, and survival. As part of LVMH's...
Shein
E-commerce
Shein generated $38 billion revenue in 2024 (up 23% year-over-year) by perfecting metabolic speed no incumbent could match. The company produces 37 ti...
Steward Health Care
Healthcare - Hospitals
Steward Health Care's 2024 bankruptcy demonstrated how private equity ownership of healthcare can prioritize extraction over patient care until hospit...
Substack
Media
Substack enables writers to publish newsletters with paid subscriptions. Platform economics with network effects in independent media.
Swiggy (Bundl Technologies Pvt. Ltd.)
Food Delivery & Technology
Swiggy is one of India's largest food delivery platforms, competing with Zomato and offering quick commerce through Instamart. The company has revolut...
Tiger Global Management
Venture Capital
Most venture capitalists are ambush predators—patient, selective, waiting for the right moment. Tiger Global hunts like a locust swarm: speed, volume,...
Trader Joe's
Retail/Grocery
American grocery chain founded in 1967 by Joe Coulombe in Pasadena, California. Originally a convenience store chain called Pronto Markets, Coulombe p...
True Religion
Retail - Apparel/Denim
True Religion's 2017 bankruptcy ended the premium denim brand's decade as a fashion must-have. The company had pioneered $200+ jeans with distinctive...
Valve Corporation
Gaming
Valve operates Steam gaming platform with first-mover advantage in digital distribution. Platform economics with 120+ million active users.
Virgin Australia
Airlines
Virgin Australia's 2020 bankruptcy forced the airline into administration during COVID-19. The carrier had been struggling before the pandemic, caught...
Waymo
Autonomous Vehicles
Waymo served 14 million autonomous rides in 2025 and crossed 450,000 weekly paid trips by December, operating across five markets with over 1,000 vehi...
Zapier
Technology/Automation
Distributed-first automation company that designs remote work topology intentionally, emphasizing asynchronous communication and transparent informati...
Zoox, Inc.
Autonomous Vehicles
Amazon-owned autonomous vehicle company designing purpose-built robotaxi with bidirectional driving and symmetrical design.