Ecosystems come and go | Seth’s Weblog

Your mission doesn’t exist in a vacuum. Your organization wouldn’t exist if it weren’t for the purchasers, rivals, marketplaces, methods and tech that make all of it work.

I used to make almanacs. Lengthy, detailed, fact-checked reference books which may save a visit to the library. When there are many bookstores and no web, the almanac is a crucial useful resource and a helpful enterprise mannequin.

I additionally had a division that made DVD roms for e-book publishers.

Neither mission was seemingly or attainable in 1920, and because the internet took maintain, each turned unsustainable.

The ecosystem for board video games was giant, regular and worthwhile. The mix of toy shops and TV advertisements made it sustainable. After which, for many suppliers, it wasn’t.

The telegraph employed tens of 1000’s of individuals… after which it didn’t.

Google profited from constructing an enormous search ecosystem and promoting little slivers of it to advertisers. Many firms and initiatives thrived from the natural or paid site visitors they obtained from billions of individuals doing a search. And now, it’s very clear that search site visitors is means down, and can nearly definitely by no means recuperate. AI has upended an ecosystem that many organizations assumed was regular and right here to remain.

We are able to lament the top of an ecosystem. In spite of everything, we labored arduous to get right here and we counted on it. We’re snug with it and we perceive it.

Or, we will settle for that ecosystems come and go, and focus our vitality on how the following ecosystem provides us an opportunity to do our work, new work, completely different work, however work that issues, for individuals who care.

June 11, 2025