Michael Mauboussin, chief investment strategist at Credit Suisse First Boston, found that Internet sites adhere to a mathematical valuation system so rigid, it resembles patterns found in nature. The pattern suggests that there may be fewer ultimate winners than many investors expect. As some sites get bigger, Mr. Mauboussin argues, they attract more users, and the more users they attract, the richer and more useful they become, attracting more users. This produces a “winner-take-all” outcome: a handful of Websites with almost all the business, and the rest with next to nothing; i.e., the Law
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