Founder Effect
A loss of genetic variation that occurs when a new population is established by a very small number of individuals from a larger population. The new population's genetic makeup is determined by the founders.
Used in the Books
This term appears in 3 chapters:
"...m climbing gear), early employees were recruited from Chouinard's social network: climbers, surfers, environmentalists who shared his worldview. This founder effect established environmental activism at high "frequency" in the organizational culture. By the time Patagonia reached scale in the 1990s-2000s, this tr..."
"Migrants adapt to the local population rather than displacing it. Case 4: Zoom - Hyper-Scaling and Founder Effect Erosion Zoom's pandemic explosion demonstrates how rapid scaling creates extreme gene flow that overwhelms founder effects."
"...ariation, rapidly shifting beak size distributions without requiring new mutations. Populations that arrived with low genetic variation (e.g., due to founder effects - genetic bottlenecks when small groups colonize new areas, Chapter 2) would radiate more slowly. Experimental evolution studies confirm this."
Biological Context
Amish populations have high rates of certain genetic disorders because the founding group happened to carry those alleles. Island populations often show reduced genetic diversity due to founder effects. The smaller the founding group, the more the new population's genetics may differ from the source.
Business Application
Company founder effects: the founding team's values, skills, and biases shape organizational culture for generations. Early hires at startups disproportionately influence company DNA. Recognizing founder effects helps understand persistent organizational traits.