Ecosystem Engineer
Ecosystem engineers - from platform companies to governments - don't produce end-user value directly but create infrastructure and regulatory habitats that determine which species can thrive.
Ecosystem engineers don't produce the most obvious value. They produce the infrastructure that enables value creation.
Ecosystem engineers are organisms that modify physical habitats, creating conditions that other species depend on. The beaver is the canonical example: a single beaver family transforms a stream into a pond, creating wetland habitat for fish, amphibians, waterfowl, and dozens of other species that couldn't exist in the original stream. The beaver doesn't consume these species - it creates the conditions for their existence.
Darwin spent his final years studying earthworms, documenting that they number approximately 53,000 per acre and move 10-18 tons of soil annually. Earthworm tunnels aerate soil, improve drainage, mix nutrients, and create channels for root penetration. Without earthworms, soil compacts, agricultural productivity drops 30-50%.
Fungi are even more extreme ecosystem engineers. Mycorrhizal networks connect multiple trees simultaneously, sharing resources across the forest. Old trees share water with saplings via fungal intermediaries. The network redistributes resources from surplus to deficit. Ecosystem engineers don't produce the most obvious value. They produce the infrastructure that enables value creation.
Business Application of Ecosystem Engineer
AWS, Visa, and platform providers are ecosystem engineers - they don't produce end-user value directly but create infrastructure that enables value creation. Like earthworms aerating soil, they capture small percentages of massive flows. Governments are the ultimate ecosystem engineers: they don't compete with companies but create the regulatory habitat companies must adapt to. When the EU mandates emissions standards or China subsidises electric vehicles, they're building dams that redirect capital flow. Policy isn't the organism - it's what the organism builds. Understanding which government organisms are engineering which habitats is essential for strategic positioning.