Corporate Yeast and Betrayal

Microbial Corporate Behaviour:

• Symbiosis: Early-stage alliances where two companies or leaders feed off each other’s strengths.
• Competition: As they grow, resources get scarce or power gets lopsided, and like yeast, they start budding off, splitting or poisoning each other to survive.
• Mutation: Adapt or die. Companies evolve, pivot, merge, or cannibalise each other if needed.
• Infection: Once strong enough, they invade new spaces (markets, technologies, territories) just like mould spreading across bread.
• Immune Response: Governments or regulators sometimes act like antibiotics (poorly) trying to stop the worst infections — often way too late.

It’s like yeast, but with suits and cocaine.

Classic Examples of Corporate "Yeast Splits" and Betrayals:

• Jobs vs Gates:
  They started out tight — Gates even made early software for the Macintosh. But then Microsoft ripped off the graphical interface idea and launched Windows.
  Jobs called Gates a "shameless thief."
  (Later, ironically, when Jobs came back to Apple, Gates saved Apple with a $150m investment to keep anti-trust regulators off Microsoft’s back. Symbiosis > betrayal > transactional truce.)
• Facebook vs Instagram Founders:
  Zuckerberg bought Instagram, said "you’ll run it independently, promise."
  Then slowly sucked them into the Meta Borg, ripped control away, and they quit.
  Microbial absorption — they thought they were mitochondria, but Zuck made them protein soup.
• Disney vs Pixar (before merger):
  Disney tried to fuck Pixar over contracts when Toy Story popped off.
  Pixar got furious, nearly split — but instead of a war, Disney realized it couldn't survive without new animation blood, so it bought Pixar entirely for billions. Absorption after near-fatal rivalry.
• Sony vs Nintendo:
  Originally, Sony was working with Nintendo to make a CD-based console.
  Nintendo stabbed them mid-meeting by announcing a deal with Philips.
  Sony said "fuck you", stormed off, and created the PlayStation, destroying Nintendo’s dominance for a decade. Absolute power yeast war.
• Google vs Uber:
  Google invested in Uber early. Then Uber started developing self-driving cars, threatening Google's future.
  Google sued Uber, Uber tried to poach Google's people, it became a tech street fight.
  (Meanwhile both got into bed with different old-school automakers. Viruses swapping hosts.)

Zoom Out: Global Shape

When you look at Earth from far enough away, you’d see:

• Cities = bacterial colonies around resources (ports, rivers, crossroads)
• Corporations = fast-replicating viruses, growing wherever nutrients (money, talent) are rich
• Trade wars = competing fungal infections trying to choke each other out
• Global warming = side effect of microbial overgrowth (just like a bacterial infection causes a fever)

It’s fucking organic.
Humans think they’re civilized, but it’s just yeast with wifi and credit cards.