Ecological Inheritance
Organizations pass down modified environments to successor ventures.
Ecological inheritance is privilege. The beaver kit born to dam-builders starts life with infrastructure, protection, and food access that dam-less beavers must spend months constructing.
Ecological inheritance is the transmission of modified environments across generations, distinct from genetic inheritance. An organism inherits not only alleles (versions of genes) from parents but also the environmental modifications parents made. A beaver kit inherits the dam and pond its parents built, dramatically reducing establishment costs. This dual inheritance can accelerate evolution, maintain maladaptive traits through environmental modification, or create evolutionary traps.
Business Application of Ecological Inheritance
Organizations pass down modified environments to successor ventures. Subsidiaries inherit distribution networks, startups inherit regulatory frameworks pioneers lobbied for, new brands inherit supply chain infrastructure. The PayPal Mafia launched companies inheriting networks, capital access, and operational knowledge. Y Combinator companies inherit network, fundraising playbook, and brand credibility.