Winner Takes it All: How Markets Favor the Few at the Expense of the Many
Farnam Street (Shane Parrish) · 2018
"Markets systematically concentrate profit and attention around a small number of leaders rather than distributing rewards proportionally to skill — driven by feedback loops, technological leverage, and lock-in effects — making winner-take-all outcomes the norm rather than the exception across industries from search engines to diamonds."
A winner-take-all market is one where a small number of leaders capture a disproportionate share of profits and attention relative to their actual skill advantage over competitors — the mechanism runs through feedback loops (a bestselling book sells more because it's already a bestseller), technological leverage (a slightly better performer can now reach a global audience instead of a local one), and lock-in (switching costs keep customers with an established leader even after competitors catch up).
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Aggregation Theory
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