100 Businesses (Humans) vs. 1 Market (Gorilla)
Yes, there are powerful business strategy lessons to be learned from this scenario.
When a fragmented collective (in this case, a horde of humans) faces a single dominant player (the gorilla, which could be a market leader, a disruptive innovation, or a major economic force), that sheer force of nature can become a direct threat to your business. In this case, death by mush.
The apex predator doesn’t need to fight fairly. It can outmanoeuvre, overwhelm, or flatten any competition that plays its game.
So the real question is this: how can you, as one business among many, learn to work with or tackle the gorilla rather than be crushed beneath it?
Offer a Delight
Don’t try to win by sheer volume. You can flood the market with ads, features, or products, but if they lack quality, the gorilla won’t even take a bite.
To calm the beast, feed it something it craves, feed it a steak, cooked and presented as an offer that solves their problem, a product that catapults them to their dream state, a service that is guaranteed to be world-class.
The gorilla won't eat your rubbish if that's all you offer it. It's already got enough plastic inside itself.
Tackle It Collaboratively
Identify the gorilla’s blind spots, then partner with others to exploit them. Shared insights, cross-functional strategies, and mutual value can unlock doors that solo efforts can’t. When smaller players align by bringing their strengths, reach, and ideas to the table, they become more than the sum of their parts.
The shift in mindset moves from survival to strategy. From competitors to co-creators. That’s how you multiply your force to become a larger, slightly more equitable opponent. By working with partners, you can multiply the impact you have to exploit that opportunity. Which, when you need to overcome a gorilla, is highly recommended.
The Lone Wolf Approach
Going it alone isn’t by itself wrong. It’s just a different game. Against a gorilla, it would seem like an impossible match. However, to succeed, lone businesses must carve out an identity so sharp that neither the market nor the gorilla can ignore them. They must also hold more advantages than if they had partners.
What are those advantages? A proven offer is a great start, but you will also need to be able to relentlessly innovate, be extremely adaptable, and have a laser-focused understanding of your customer.
The margin for error will be much thinner than if you were to join a group, but the payoff, if executed well, can be immense.
Craft Your Specialism to Weaponise a Niche
If 100 businesses each owned a specific strength, say product innovation, supply chain mastery, sales expertise and marketing prowess, the number of viable shots at the gorilla would multiply. The entire market dynamic would shift as you become better positioned to provide a greater value of impact and are more capable of delivering incredible value in a narrow field.
The more concentrated the focus, the higher the chance of penetrating through hardened skin barriers.
Don’t try to be everything to everyone. Identify a profitable niche, specialise your offerings, and build deep expertise to become the undisputed leader in that segment.
Your expertise is selected and sharpened with deadly precision.
Market Intelligence and Adaptability Are Non-Negotiable
Charging into the gorilla blindfolded is suicide. Instead, track the gorilla’s movements. Anticipate the shifts. Iterate quickly.
When businesses study trends, decode consumer behaviours, and adjust their business strategies in response or anticipation, they gain an edge over their competitors. Those who do so successfully will quickly understand what part of the body to strike, at what time and why, faster than other businesses seeking to do the same. Intelligence can be the deciding factor.
You may be fighting in the same battle, but you are acutely aware that your friend can quickly become your enemy as you both face a gorilla with secrets, waiting to be discovered.
Strong Leadership & Unified Vision Matter
One hundred isolated businesses won’t get far.
But a collective with shared purpose and coordinated leadership becomes a force.
Whether through alliances, joint ventures, or shared infrastructure, vision multiplies impact. Leadership transforms momentum into motion.
Strong leadership within a business and collaborative leadership within a market segment, providing a clear vision, fostering innovation, and driving coordinated action, can amplify the collective effectiveness of all players. Together and individually.
Intelligent Transformation
Perhaps there's something in our DNA. Our natural inclination is to look at this thought experiment as a conflict; the language used lends itself to that.
However, we are different creatures, and our objectives should exercise our highest faculties, for the benefit of others.
The goal then isn’t to defeat the gorilla. It’s to understand and overcome its defences; not to weaken or strike the heart, but to use your skills to help it grow stronger.
