Why niches matter

Niches matter, the author argues, because bringing people with a shared specialty together can drive major progress and give them a sense of belonging. The text cites Renaissance Florence, the Manhattan Project and Silicon Valley as projects that gathered niche-focused people to cooperate, compete and build on each other's work. It also points to open source, where 99% of new software projects reportedly rely on open source components, and to the crypto community, which it says led to a $2T+ industry. The text adds that niche communities offer belonging, and that a niche makes it easier to stand out than the crowded mainstream Internet.