Rule of 10x Value

Biological Parallel

Carnivores follow an implicit 10x rule: predators typically must gain 10-20 times more energy from prey than they expend in pursuit. Lions hunting zebra may run at 50 km/h for 200-300 meters, burning massive calories in the chase. A failed hunt represents catastrophic energy waste, so they only pursue when probability of success times caloric yield exceeds pursuit cost by roughly 10x. This massive markup is necessary because uncertainty and failure rates make the average return far lower than the maximum—the same reason products need 10x value to overcome customer switching costs and usage friction.