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Last Man Standing

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Outlasting competitors in the final phase of commoditisation

As a market reaches the tail-end of industrialisation, prices race to the bottom. Margins vanish, and survival becomes a function of scale, efficiency, and ruthlessness. Most competitors aren’t built to endure this—they collapse quickly and often violently.

The “last man standing” strategy is about enduring that collapse. You lean hard into automation, volume, and cost control, knowing that once others fold, you’ll inherit their market share by default. There’s no glory here, just attrition. It’s not about winning so much as outlasting, then owning what’s left. It’s brutal, but when played well, decisive.

  • Exploiting existing constraints (Deaccelerators): Others may collapse faster if you exacerbate supply constraints.
  • Sweat & Dump (Dealing with toxicity): Preceding manoeuvre—offload what you won’t carry to the finish line.
  • Threat acquisition (Defensive): Clean up weak competitors cheaply during collapse phase.
  • Patents & IPR (Deaccelerators): Legal defence while others burn cash trying to survive.
  • Fragmentation (Competitor): As others collapse, you can split their market and absorb parts opportunistically.

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