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.
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. 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. The business model: enable more than you extract.