Preferential attachment is the mechanism that turns an initial advantage into a monopoly. The term comes from network science, where it describes how nodes in a network accumulate connections: new connections tend to go to nodes that already have connections. Not proportionally; disproportionately. The rich get richer. The distribution becomes more extreme over time, not less. In markets, this works through perception as much as through actual quality. When a product already has users, new users interpret that as a signal that the product is probably good. They don't investigate independently; they use existing popularity as a proxy for quality. This makes the product more popular, which makes it appear even better, which attracts more users. The loop is self-reinforcing and, once started, very hard to interrupt from the outside. The important thing to understand is that preferential attachment is neutral. It does not care whether the product that gets the initial advantage is the best one. It amplifies whatever got there first. This is why the least deserving can win; not because quality doesn't matter, but because quality is one input into a system where timing and meaning are also inputs, and sometimes more decisive ones. Once you are on the right side of preferential attachment, the main task is not to break what you've built. Once you are on the wrong side, the only exit is a new initial advantage; not more features, not better ads, but a genuinely different meaning that creates a new entry point into the flywheel.