A company's value increases exponentially with its ability to form a cooperative web or ecosystem of companies who all have the survival and success of the others in their best interests. The software and semiconductor industries must share their secrets, their code and patents, their genetic material , freely with other companies, or nothing would work together. The new, unexpected uses that develop when companies cooperate increase the value of everything synergistically. An orchid is delicate, can't compete or reproduce, and dies easily outside its ecosystem. However, within its ecosystem it is robust, competes strongly, and reproduces readily.
Companies increasingly require a supporting ecosystem of other businesses to survive and prosper.
While constant news reports of government statistics and traditional economic analysis tends to focus us on the economic cycle, our real focus should instead be on the transitions within our civilization. Look for the important transitions and ignore the economic cycle. It's still a factor, but a much less important one today. Sure, there are many more losers during historical discontinuities. Old industries and careers die for good.