Novo Nordisk

Novo Nordisk did one thing for 100 years: diabetes. Not cancer, not cardiovascular, not general pharma. Just metabolic disease. In the 1960s-1970s, as insulin became commoditized, investors pressured the company to diversify. Management's counterargument: 'We understand metabolic disease better than anyone on Earth. That understanding took 50 years to accumulate. If we diversify, we dilute.'

They were right. The century-long root system produced manufacturing expertise competitors can't replicate, FDA trust from a clean safety record, global endocrinologist relationships, and research depth that enabled Ozempic and Wegovy - GLP-1 drugs that became cultural phenomena. These breakthroughs didn't come from a top-down plan. They emerged from 20+ years of synthesis across research groups in Copenhagen, San Francisco, and Boston, with calibrated scientist rotations (5-10% annually) that transferred knowledge without homogenizing cultures.

The 100-year chemical signal of strategic focus paid off: revenue grew from $200 million (1980) to $38 billion (2024), with market cap reaching $604 billion at its March 2024 peak - making Novo Nordisk Europe's most valuable company. The lesson: concentration beats diversification when you're building capability that takes decades to accumulate.