Capybara

Capybaras are the world's largest living rodents, occupying similar wetland habitats as beavers but through a completely different strategy: grazing rather than engineering. Capybaras don't modify their environment; they move to where conditions suit them. They're nomadic grazers who follow water levels and vegetation seasonally rather than creating stable territories through construction.

This makes capybaras highly flexible but also highly dependent on existing habitat. They can exploit diverse wetlands but can't create wetlands where none exist. In contrast, beavers can transform inappropriate streams into suitable pond habitat. Capybara populations fluctuate with environmental conditions; beaver populations can buffer environmental variation through engineering.

The business parallel is the difference between operating flexibility and market creation. Capybaras are like companies that excel at finding and exploiting existing market opportunities—fast followers, geographic expanders, segment specialists. They can go wherever the market is good but can't create markets. Beavers are like companies that create market infrastructure—payment systems, platforms, standards—that make markets possible. Capybara strategy works when suitable markets exist; beaver strategy works even when they don't.