Porter's Generic Strategies

Biological Parallel

Cheetahs differentiate through speed, hippos lead on cost through bulk intimidation, and African wild dogs focus narrowly on cooperative endurance hunting. Porter's three strategies—differentiation, cost leadership, and focus—mirror how organisms partition niches to avoid direct competition. Stuck in the middle, like a medium-sized generalist predator, you lose to specialists on every dimension. Natural selection punishes strategic ambiguity as ruthlessly as markets do.