Josh Braun (josh@sciences.social)'s status on Sunday, 27-Nov-2022 06:05:54 JST

Richard John <https://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674088139> highlights how the growth costs of networks have often led to great incumbency advantages. With the telegraph system, for example, lots of startups died after creating small regional networks because they didn't understand the unique economies of scale going in. That enabled the giant monopoly of the day, Western Union, to grow even more mammoth in size by buying out these smaller networks and incorporating them into its huge one. 12/