10% Rule
In business, infrastructure providers (Level 1) capture the smallest percentage but largest absolute volume.
Ecosystem value is multiplicative, not additive. Infrastructure providers capture small percentages of massive flows. That's the business model - don't fight the 10% rule, design for it.
~90% of energy is lost at each trophic level. When herbivores eat plants, only ~10% of the plant's energy converts to herbivore biomass - the rest is lost to metabolism, heat, and waste. This explains why food chains rarely exceed 4-5 levels and why apex predators are rare.
Business Application of 10% Rule
In business, infrastructure providers (Level 1) capture the smallest percentage but largest absolute volume. AWS captures 20-30% margin on $90B revenue, but applications built on AWS generate $500B+. SAP's $30B enables $100B+ in partner revenue and trillions in enterprise value. Don't fight the 10% rule - design for it.