Mechanism
Adaptive Radiation
TL;DR
After industry disruptions, surviving companies and new entrants rapidly fill the niches left by failed incumbents.
Following mass extinctions, surviving lineages radiate into empty niches left by extinct lineages. This proliferation phase (centuries-thousands of years) is when evolutionary innovation accelerates - ecological opportunity drives diversification. Mammals radiated explosively in the 10 million years following the K-Pg extinction, evolving from mouse-sized to elephant-sized and occupying niches dinosaurs once filled.
Business Application of Adaptive Radiation
After industry disruptions, surviving companies and new entrants rapidly fill the niches left by failed incumbents. When Blockbuster died, Netflix flourished. Extinction clears space for the new.