Golden Eagle

Golden eagles dive at speeds up to 200 mph when attacking prey, converting altitude to velocity like peregrine falcons. However, they target larger prey - hares, marmots, even young deer - combining speed with power. Their talons exert 440 PSI, enough to crush prey skulls on impact.

The golden eagle strategy combines speed with mass. Where peregrine falcons optimize purely for velocity, golden eagles balance speed, strength, and size to take prey too large for lighter raptors. They trade some speed for capability against larger targets.

The business parallel illuminates capability bundling for larger opportunities. Some companies combine speed with scale, pursuing larger market opportunities that require both rapid execution and substantial resources. Pure speed without scale cannot capture large opportunities; pure scale without speed cannot close quickly. The bundle matters.

Golden eagles also demonstrate that prey size determines optimal predator configuration. Falcons and eagles partition prey by size, each optimized for different target classes. Markets similarly partition - startups target opportunities matching their speed-scale balance while enterprises target opportunities matching theirs.