Why Mycelium Might Know More About Business Than You Do
Fungi don’t scale, they connect. And that’s exactly the strategy most execs are missing.
Entangled Life by Merlin Sheldrake had me hooked from page one. It’s a book about mushrooms (not the trendy-foraging, Michelin-menu kind – the ones that build underground empires). It made me question who really runs the planet: humans, or the mycelial networks pulling the strings beneath our feet?
Turns out the largest organism on Earth isn’t a blue whale; it’s a 2,385-acre honey fungus in Oregon that’s quietly dominated the forest for 2,500 years. It hasn’t gotten taller, and it certainly hasn’t been photobombed by eager tourists-turned-influencers. But it’s built a network so strong it makes Silicon Valley look like a game of telephone.
As I read, I realized why fungi is far better at networking than the most seasoned professionals I know.
Forget Scale. Build a Web.
In entrepreneurship, we’re obsessed with scaling. We measure success in hockey-stick curves, social media followers, and press mentions. We constantly dream of the “next big thing”, but mushrooms taught me the smarter move is to become the next deeply connected thing.
Mycelium, the root-like web that fungi use to connect underground, doesn’t race to the sky like a tree:
It spreads sideways.
It connects.
It collaborates.
And here’s where it gets wild: trees actually use that fungal network to talk to each other. They send nutrients, warnings, and even favors through the fungal web. It’s a literal mutual aid system running under our feet. It means mycelium is imperative to the entire ecosystem it connects. It plays the role of superconnector, but in the most covert of ways. Now that’s an operating model we should all seek to emulate.
Whatever your line of business, you’ve probably decided to focus on getting more clients, raising more capital, growing taller, faster, louder. But fungus shows us that ecosystems don’t reward the loudest. They reward the most connected.
Here’s what that looks like in practice:
An executive who sends referrals, not just asks for them
A solopreneur who offers up expertise instead of hoarding contacts
A brand that grows with its suppliers, not past them
A network of owners who cross-promote like it’s second nature
It’s biology. The rainforest thrives because of mutual reliance: the fungi feed the trees, the trees shelter the insects, the insects pollinate the plants, and the plants keep the fungi alive. Each part plays both a role and a response – and it’s wholly different than the competitive culture of “scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours” that so many of us overachievers have been led to embrace.
A fragile empire can look like success (until the storm hits).
Our Hello Alice data indicates that 82% of small business failures come from cash crunches brought on by supply chain demands, funding gaps, or marketing plateaus — all problems that could be mitigated through strong ecosystem ties.
Meanwhile, a Harvard Business Review study found that entrepreneurs with robust peer networks were 3x more likely to bounce back from market shocks. Not because they had more capital, but because they had more nodes, more signal-sharing, and more support when things got weird (which they always do).
And in a post-COVID world, we’ve already seen what happens when we prioritize independence over interdependence: burnout, isolation, and fragility disguised as freedom. When storms come, in the form of pandemics, supply shocks, and AI pivots, it's not the tallest tower that stays standing. It’s the one with the deepest, widest roots. Networks cushion the fall; isolation doesn't.
Nature doesn’t scale alone, and neither should you.
Look for your own relationships to build your resilience and create community where you need it most. A Harvard Business Review study outlined eight core sources of relationship resilience, as connections that facilitate purpose, empathy, humor, politics, perspective, vision, pushback, and work surge. Look for gaps in your network and determine where you need to build support; at the same time, find ways to contribute support to others across these areas. To clarify:
You don’t need 10,000 followers. You need 10 champions.
You don’t need a massive ad budget. You need five advocates who’ll repost your launch.
You don’t need a bigger product line. You need a tighter feedback loop with the people already buying from you.
Embrace what I call the “mycelium mindset”: grow sideways, plug in, feed others, be fed. Because when the drought hits, it’s not the tallest plant that survives. It’s the one most deeply woven into the web.
If the trees are talking, the fungi are listening…
…and maybe it’s time we did, too. Build like a fungus, and start asking questions like:
Who do I show up for, even when there’s nothing in it for me?
Who consistently roots for me, refers me, reposts me?
Where am I building depth instead of just reach?
What does my interconnected community contribute to our ecosystem?
This isn’t a trend. It’s ancient. Mycelium’s been quietly running the show since long before PowerPoint decks and roadshows.
It doesn’t chase numbers. It nurtures relationships, which, honestly, sounds like a pretty decent business model.
