Semelparous vs Iteroparous
The Salmon Dichotomy in business: Pacific Salmon strategy (all-in growth, accept death risk) works for gold rushes with narrow windows.
Semelparous organisms (Pacific salmon) reproduce once then die - 100% allocation to single reproductive event, zero resources to post-reproductive survival. The species evolved to allocate zero resources to survival after reproduction because Pacific salmon spawn in rivers with unstable conditions (floods, droughts, predation) where survival between spawning events is low anyway. Iteroparous organisms (Atlantic salmon) reproduce multiple times, surviving between events with balanced allocation across lifetime. Reproductive output per spawning is lower (2,000 eggs vs 4,000) but total lifetime output is higher (6,000-8,000 eggs across multiple spawnings). Neither strategy is 'better' - both are optimized for their respective environments.
Business Application of Semelparous vs Iteroparous
The Salmon Dichotomy in business: Pacific Salmon strategy (all-in growth, accept death risk) works for gold rushes with narrow windows. Atlantic Salmon strategy (balanced allocation, survive to compound) works for stable markets with long horizons. Match strategy to environment.