When Rivals Buy the Map Together

Welcome to Legacy Beyond Profits, where we explore what it really means to build a business that leaves a mark for the right reasons

The most counterintuitive business move of 2024 wasn't a merger or acquisition - it was competitors pooling capital to buy infrastructure they'd all use equally.

While most executives obsess over proprietary advantages and trade secrets, a quiet revolution is unfolding: strategic rivals are discovering that certain assets create more value when owned collectively than when controlled exclusively.

This isn't cooperation born of weakness; it's a calculated recognition that some competitive moats are built by sharing the foundation.

Most executives treat competitive advantage as a zero-sum game: defend market share, protect proprietary data, and prevent rivals from accessing strategic assets.

This approach creates vulnerability where platform monopolies control critical infrastructure, forcing entire industries into dependency on external gatekeepers who extract rents and dictate terms.

Building an enduring market position requires collaborative sovereignty. Competitors uniting to prevent platform capture of foundational resources.

When German automakers saw Google dominating mapping data essential for autonomous vehicles, they formed a consortium and acquired HERE Technologies for $3.1 billion in 2015.

Their legacy transcends individual corporate advantage: they established neutral ground where rivals share control of infrastructure too critical to let any single entity monopolize it.

The paradox: sometimes the strongest competitive position emerges not from defeating rivals, but from collaborating with them to prevent a more dangerous adversary from controlling the game board itself.

Case Study: How German Automakers Built Digital Sovereignty Through Consortium Ownership of HERE Technologies

Most technology executives treat mapping data as competitive infrastructure: proprietary systems that create differentiation, exclusive datasets that prevent rivals from matching capabilities, and platform control that extracts rents from dependent users.

This approach creates vulnerability where external gatekeepers accumulate power over foundational resources, forcing entire industries into dependency on companies whose interests diverge from those who rely on the infrastructure.

Building an enduring market position through collaborative sovereignty requires competitors to unite around shared control of critical assets. When German automakers saw Google dominating mapping data essential for autonomous vehicles in 2014, they recognized an existential threat: allowing a technology platform to control navigation infrastructure would transfer strategic value from automotive manufacturers to a company with no stake in their success.

The response required abandoning zero-sum competitive instincts.

Audi, BMW, and Daimler formed a consortium and acquired HERE Technologies from Nokia for $3.1 billion in 2015. The purchase transferred ownership of high-definition mapping data covering over 200 countries to a neutral entity governed by automotive rivals who agreed to unanimous consent on strategic decisions. The structure prevented any single automaker from gaining an advantage while ensuring that no external platform could dictate terms to the industry.

The acquisition delivered infrastructure sovereignty that individual competition could not achieve.

HERE Technologies generates over $1.5 billion in annual revenue, providing mapping data accurate to the centimeter level, enabling autonomous vehicle development across the automotive sector without platform dependency.

The consortium expanded to include additional automakers and technology partners, each accepting governance constraints in exchange for preventing monopoly control of foundational data.

The paradox: the strongest competitive position emerged not from defeating rivals, but from collaborating with them to prevent a more dangerous adversary from controlling the game board itself.

German automakers sacrificed individual advantage to preserve collective autonomy, recognizing that shared sovereignty over critical infrastructure creates a more durable market position than proprietary control that invites platform capture.

The model demonstrates how industries can resist platform monopolies through coordinated action. Rather than allowing market dynamics to concentrate power in external gatekeepers, competitors can establish a neutral ground where shared governance prevents any single entity from extracting rents or dictating strategic direction.

The approach requires accepting constraints on individual freedom in exchange for collective independence from platform dependency.

HERE Technologies maps the physical world down to the centimeter for autonomous driving without any single automaker controlling it. 

The consortium structure ensures that foundational infrastructure remains neutral territory, preventing the data monopolies that characterize consumer technology platforms.

German automakers chose collaborative sovereignty over competitive advantage, building legacy through strategic restraint rather than aggressive expansion.

The acquisition created digital sovereignty where traditional competition would have produced platform capture. By uniting around shared control of mapping infrastructure, automotive rivals prevented Google from replicating in transportation the monopoly power it achieved in consumer search and advertising.

Their legacy transcends individual corporate advantage: they established a model for industries to preserve strategic autonomy in an era where platform monopolies threaten to control foundational resources across entire sectors.

From Platform Dependency to Collaborative Sovereignty

1. Identify infrastructure that creates existential dependency before market dynamics concentrate control

Most executives wait until platform monopolies establish dominance before recognizing strategic vulnerability. Building an enduring market position requires identifying foundational resources where external control would transfer from operators to gatekeepers.

As shown in the case study above, German automakers recognized mapping data as existential infrastructure in 2014, before Google achieved monopoly control over navigation systems essential for autonomous vehicles.

The principle: anticipate which assets will become chokepoints, then act while collective action remains possible. Waiting until dependency crystallizes eliminates options for establishing neutral ground.

Industries that identify critical infrastructure early can prevent platform capture through coordinated acquisition, while those that delay face extraction of rents by gatekeepers whose interests diverge from sector participants.

2. Structure governance to prevent individual advantage while ensuring collective autonomy

Traditional competition assumes zero-sum dynamics where rivals seek proprietary control over strategic assets.

Collaborative sovereignty inverts this logic: competitors accept constraints on individual freedom in exchange for collective independence from platform dependency. 

The HERE Technologies consortium required unanimous consent on strategic decisions, preventing any single automaker from gaining an advantage while ensuring no external platform could dictate terms.

Upper90's hybrid capital structure demonstrates similar principles at the firm level, providing 80-90% debt rather than equity to prevent founder dilution while maintaining investor alignment through minority stakes.

The paradox: accepting governance constraints creates a more durable market position than pursuing unrestricted control that invites platform capture or capital extraction.

3. Build neutral territory that competitors govern jointly rather than proprietary systems that invite monopoly challenge

Proprietary infrastructure creates winner-take-all dynamics where market leaders face constant competitive pressure and regulatory scrutiny.

Neutral ground governed by multiple stakeholders distributes power in ways that resist monopoly formation.

Togethxr's athlete-founded media platform demonstrates how operators can create shared infrastructure for storytelling rather than depend on existing gatekeepers to control narratives.

The model works through distributed ownership: when multiple competitors govern foundational resources, no single entity accumulates sufficient power to extract rents or dictate strategic direction. 

HERE Technologies maps the physical world down to the centimeter for autonomous driving without any automaker controlling it.

The structure prevents data monopolies that characterize consumer technology platforms, establishing sovereignty through shared governance rather than individual dominance.

4. Sacrifice competitive advantage to preserve strategic autonomy from external platforms

The strongest market positions sometimes emerge not from defeating rivals but from collaborating with them to prevent more dangerous adversaries from controlling the game board itself.

German automakers abandoned zero-sum competitive instincts, recognizing that shared sovereignty over mapping infrastructure creates a more enduring position than proprietary control that enables platform monopolies. 

The approach requires counterintuitive restraint: accepting that competitors will access the same foundational resources in exchange for ensuring no external gatekeeper can dictate terms to the entire industry.

Upper90's debt-heavy capital structure embodies similar logic at a company level, where founders sacrifice access to larger equity pools in exchange for maintaining control over strategic direction.

The principle transcends individual transactions: building legacy through collaborative sovereignty means choosing collective independence over competitive advantage when platform dependency threatens sector autonomy.

From strategy to legacy

The paradox of modern competition may be this: the businesses that endure longest are those wise enough to know which battles to fight alone and which foundations to build together.

Legacy, it turns out, sometimes requires the contemplative courage to share the map.

Until next time.