Primary Succession
Companies entering entirely new markets face primary succession - they must build everything from scratch including brand, customer relationships, capabilities, and infrastructure.
Primary succession develops on substrates never previously occupied by life - volcanic islands, glacial moraines, lava flows. It begins from naked rock with no soil - only sterile mineral substrate. The first colonists must tolerate extreme conditions: solar radiation intense enough to desiccate tissues in hours, surface temperatures fluctuating 80°F between day and night, no nutrients, no water retention, no organic matter. Lichens and mosses often pioneer these hostile frontiers, their acids slowly dissolving granite, releasing mineral nutrients. Over centuries to millennia, primary succession can progress from bare rock to mature forest.
Business Application of Primary Succession
Companies entering entirely new markets face primary succession - they must build everything from scratch including brand, customer relationships, capabilities, and infrastructure. This requires longer timelines and different strategies than recovery from crisis.
Primary Succession Appears in 2 Chapters
Primary succession on bare rock requires centuries because pioneers must build everything from nothing - soil, nutrients, water retention.
Primary succession from bare rock →Primary succession timelines span 150-500+ years from pioneer lichens through climax old-growth forest, with each stage creating conditions for the next.
Primary succession timeline →