The Oak Tree Theory

I had better explain the oak tree theory. It says that of all the little trees starting out, some do better than others. They get better soil, better water, better light, or they have better genetics. After awhile these trees become larger than the others. and shade them, basically taking more of the sunlight. The others begin to die out, leaving fewer, larger trees.

This is how Random House and Doubleday end up being owned by the same German firm. This is how the US goes from 2500 breweries to 130. This is how Miller, owned by a South African firm, enters into partnerships with Coors, who is already hooked up with Molson.This is how Anheuser-Busch gets bought.

But then these large oak trees drop their acorns further and further from the trunk, and out near the edges, some new acorns can get started and acquire enough resources to become vigorous little trees. Eventually the large old trees may suffer from disease or storm, and their passing leaves their old spaces available (see: Schlitz, Stroh's). And we begin a new round, with many new trees in competition.

This is how we go from 130 breweries to over 900. This is how new publishers, and new media, got going.

It's just the circle of life.