Now for the Cichlid fish and Silicon Valley, this is where it starts to get really interesting. For simplicities sake let’s say we now have to species of Cichlid fish, one whiling away its time in the pleasant yet increasingly over crowded sandy shallows and the other living in the rapidly changing rocky outcrops. We also have two ’species’ of university one focused on traditional research reliant on government funding and contributions from its alumni to provide its food (funding), the other having formed a strategic relationship with defence organisations which provide it food so long as it can rapidly adapt to the changing circumstances.
Now at this point, although we have to distinct species, they have not evolved so much that it is no longer possible for them to interbreed, if the right circumstances exist. Thus we have the occasional rocky fish getting it on with particularly sexy sandy fish and we have the occasional Harvard Professor going back to his sandy roots to make sweet love at Stanford.
It turns out that during this lust filled night between the ex-Harvard Professor and Stanford, a crucial gene is transferred. The Professor in question is Professor Terman, and the gene that is transferred is embedded in the Stanford genome in such a way that it fundamentally changes the genetic make-up of the Stanford species becoming integral to the survival and future speciation events occurring in the sandy research habitat that Stanford calls home. The gene looks a little something like this (thanks again to Steve Blank for this):
- Graduate students are encouraged to start companies rather than carry out ongoing research
- Professors are encouraged to consult and become board members for companies
- Technology transfer/IP licensing becomes very easy
- Getting out of your natural academic habitat becomes good for your career.
As Steve Blank says, ‘this is heretical, at the time no-one else is doing this’ to see how important the effect of this is, let’s jump back to the Cichlid fishes. Now as we said, there are two species of Cichlid fish occasionally they are interbreeding but mainly they are inbreeding and as we all know, this leads to mutations. The majority of these mutations are bad, they are more likely to give the fish a disadvantage than an advantage and thus the mutation is unlikely to be passed on to the next generation. However, occasionally a mutation will arise that gives the fish a new technology enabling him to exploit a feeding niche that was previously unexploited by the species. From an evolutionary standpoint, this fish is encouraged to go out an exploit this niche, there is less competition for resources in the niche and it puts less strain on the resources available within the current niche. This fish has great career prospects, he is more likely to survive and to reproduce.
a) Trophic Diversification - You are what you eat
Mutation is basically the animal equivalent of the open licensing that Terman instituted at Stanford, the animal is free to mutate in any manner they like and if the mutation is advantageous, they are free to exploit it. Some of the feeding technologies that the Cichlid fish are absolutely incredible, here is an excerpt taken from the Smithsonian Zoogoer Magazine (the stuff in red is mine):
Within Lake Malawi, these fishes live in every possible habitat-weeds, rock, sand, mud, open water, and riverine outlets. The most spectacular specializations, however, are the feeding adaptations of these fishes. Cichlids have evolved an astonishingly great diversity of feeding adaptations. They exploit all available sources of food including phytoplankton, zooplankton, soft bottom deposits, algae on the surface of rocks, algae that grow upon other submerged plants, higher plants, mollusks, insects and benthic arthropods, fish scales, fish fins, fishes, and fish eggs, embryos, and larvae.
Within these various feeding guilds, cichlids have adopted almost every imaginable form of behavior–except flying–to capture prey. Mimicry abounds, as fin-biters and scale-scrappers evolve with the same color form as their prey. They can then sneak into schools of unsuspecting fish, who soon lose parts of their bodies (the ‘Google fish’ sneaking into other webpages, taking parts of that page and displaying their own ads). Other species, known as paedophages (literally “baby eaters”) follow females with young in their mouths and ram them in the head to dislodge the fry (the ‘Microsoft fish’ gobbling up the best technologies from other companies at an early stage). Another species can change its color or color pattern depending on which prey it is mimicking (the Domain squatting fish, mimicking another domain and reaping some profits). But probably the most amazing behavioral feeding adaptation is that of the “Play Dead Fish,” Nimbochromis livingstonii. This species falls dead-like into the sand and remains motionless. Its color pattern disguises it as a rotting corpse, which attracts scavenging cichlids. Its unsuspecting visitors become the consumed, instead of the consumer (I’ll let you come up with your own company for this - let me know in the comments).
We can see that intense competition for resources in one particular niche results in the need for fish to rapidly innovate in order to fill new niches. However, with all the mimicry and predatory tactics taking place within this small network of similar fishes, it is easy to understand why some fish would adopt what Henry Chesbrough would term a ‘closed innovation model’ (see The Era of Open Innovation) to protect their offspring/products. An indeed this is what a number of species did, they developed what is called mouth brooding. The fish engage in what can only be described as a spot of oral sex where the male fertilises the eggs, and they develop, in the female’s mouth.
This is a much more protective method of reproduction than the general strategy of laying eggs and letting them drift through the water, it prevents the young from venturing too far from the parent and keeps their technology in the family ensuring that they can continue to exploit their current niche. Now this strategy is great until it turns out the adaptive landscape changes and your niche changes and due to your closed model, you no longer have the genetic diversity to adapt to a new niche.
What you need is some to find some other fish that have mutated/innovated new technologies and mate with them. Luckily you happen to be situated within a network of amazing and innovative companies, the question is how can you attract them to mate with you?
By now, I’m sure the thought of Cichlid oral sex has got you all hot and bothered and you are gagging for a shag, so stay tuned for part 3: ‘Sexual Selection: How to get Laid in the Valley’
