The Core Insight
Value concentrates at two extremes while the middle hollows out—like a barbell with weights on both ends and a thin bar connecting them.
The Barbell Structure
Massive Scale (Platforms & Infrastructure)
- Near-zero marginal costs
- Network effects compound
- Winner-take-most dynamics
Examples: AWS, Google, OpenAI, Meta
Strategy: Achieve escape velocity or don’t compete
The Hollowing Middle (“Commodity Purgatory”)
The Trap: “Good enough” → economically obsolete
Warning: This zone is being systematically eliminated
Deep Niche (Specialists & Premium)
- Premium prices sustained
- Fierce customer loyalty
- Irreplaceable expertise
Examples: Boutique consultancies, craftspeople, specialists
Strategy: Go so deep they can’t ignore you
Connection to Cognitive Range
The barbelled economy creates intense demand for cognitive range because someone must translate between the extremes.
- Massive scale platforms operate at high abstraction (aggregates, algorithms)
- Deep specialists operate at ground level (specific contexts, craft execution)
Cognitive range = the bridge.
This is part of a comprehensive analysis. Read the full analysis on The Business Engineer.
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