Replication | Brand, Business & The Biological System

“A fundamental building block of diverse biological life is high-fidelity replication. The fundamental unit of replication seems to be the DNA molecule, which provides a blueprint for the offspring to be built from physical building blocks. There are a variety of replication methods, but most can be lumped into sexual and asexual” Shane Parish, Farnam Street

Replication is another way of saying scale. Which, in and of itself is fascinating because it is completely antithetical to the beginning stages of a business or brand. In the beginning of creating a business or a brand you have a secret. You have a unique insight in a given domain and it is that uniqueness that gives you value, what you offer should be immensely useful and immensely scarce. It is how you get from zero to one.

But, how does your business spread? That is replication, that is going from one to one-hundred, and one-hundred to one-million, etc.

How does replication happen?

With this series, the thinking has been to look at nature, so this post will be no different. Where in nature is replication most effective?

DNA — Canonical Replication.

According to Wikipedia, DNA replication is the biological process of producing two identical replicas of DNA from one original DNA molecule.

But, how does this happen? Well,

DNA is made up of a double helix of two complementary strands. During replication, these strands are separated. Each strand of the original DNA molecule then serves as a template for the production of its counterpart, a process referred to as semiconservative replication. Cellular proofreading and error-checking mechanisms ensure near perfect fidelity for DNA replication.

Simply, the information encoded in DNA strands split and spread. Producing many different, yet identical forms of the same idea.

Back To Business

When considering this phenomena as it relates to business and brand I think this spits into two. Physical Replication and Philosophical replication. In order to be a great business or brand, you must do both exceptionally well.

Philosophical Replication — Cults & Culture

Philosophical replication in brand and business begins internally and spreads, it is the spreading of the ‘why’. It spreads first throughout the internal culture of the business and then permeates the culture at large, depending on the point of growth the business is in.

Deeply understanding how philosophies or ideologies spread would take a whole lot longer to explain, and maybe that will be another post. For now, I will leave you with the central question that I think underpins this idea, it is what is the core belief that drives this business or brand, and what are the incentives that are tethered to said belief?

Physical Replication — Hardware & Software

Physical replication breaks off as well, into hardware and software. Ideally, in the 21st century you have vertically integrated both, a la Tesla or Apple. Of course, they can also be in their own silo’s, le creuset is purely physical and facebook is purely digital. Unlike philosophical replication, physical replication is tangible and a bit more binary. From my observation, I have come to understand it as fundamentally increasing or decreasing three things. Time, money and utility in any positive combination.

For example, Uber decreases time, decreases money, and increases utility. (Software & Hardware) Tesla increases time (charge etc), decreases money (per ROI), and increases utility. Chipotle decreases time, decreases time, and increases utility.

Again, going deep into this could be a post on its own, but the central question that I think underpins physical replication is this… How does your core product positively increase or decrease time, utility or money in the life of a customer.

Replication & Change

While I am certain that the notion of brand & business replication, will endure well into the future — I am not as sure about how it will endure.

McDonalds & 20th Century Brand DNA Replication

In the past, replication was static and rigid. I am certain that will not continue. McDonalds is a great example of this, it scaled in an age where the idea of fast and convenient food, with little variety and transparency scaled. Simply, ideas and products had to be unbundled, and static.

Amazon & 21st Century Brand DNA Replication

Taking physical and philosophical replication into the future, it is my assumption that it will have to be fluid, personalized and bundled. Creating both a philosophical narrative that is unique to each customer, as well as a novel confluence of increased or decreased time, money and utility based on the specific context of the customer.