SCALE paths: Ecosystems
Ecosystems are your creative operating system. Learn how Desert, Grassland, Tundra, Forest, and Aquatic types shape how you build a sustainable business.
Hi,
If you really want to grow and embrace your SCALE path, it helps to understand your natural tendencies on a deep, personal, visceral level.
That’s where the Ecosystems can benefit you. They’re the operating system for your entrepreneurial journey. The SCALE paths help you grow, but the Ecosystems are how you’re wired.
Think of Ecosystems like the operating system of your computer. You might use Windows, Mac, Linux, Ubuntu, etc. Whichever you choose goes far to determine how you interface with your computer, including what programs you can run, and how they run.
It doesn’t really influence what you create, though, how you share it, or who you meet through it. That’s where SCALE paths come into the picture.
SCALE paths have a lot of overlap with Ecosystems, and lots of people confuse the two. However, they actually serve two very different functions.
SCALE paths are how you grow.
Ecosystems are how you operate.
Ecosystems have nothing to do with growth. They are all about how you build your business on a deep, foundational, and structural level. Your ecosystem isn’t how you want to be. It’s how you actually function.
They show you how to structure your work so it doesn’t drain you. Yes, each Ecosystem is echoed in a SCALE path.
Spotlighter = Grassland
Collaborator = Aquatic
Arbiter = Desert
Launcher = Tundra
Evangelist = Forest
And yes, most entrepreneurs will align both tightly together, but that’s not necessarily the case. Each base Ecosystem could work equally effectively with multiple SCALE paths.
Grasslands are steady, strategic and methodical. They grow slow, deep, and sustainably, which aligns well with the Spotlighter path. However, they could also build a legion of ambassadors, like Evangelists, that spread their message all over the internet, or partner with brands on new products like Collaborators.
Aquatic are expansive, layered worldbuilders who create systems that span universes, which pairs well with the Collaborator, as they both rely on outside validation from partners to normalize their work, but an Aquatic could also choose to get out front and center of their brand like a Spotlighter, or build ambassadors like an Evangelist, depending on their path of least friction.
Deserts are fast, tactical, and opportunistic. They move quickly and build lean, which matches well with the Arbiter who is always looking for the next trend to hop on. However, it’s equally possible for them to take advantage of a Launcher path since they can both spin up new projects quickly and almost at will.
Tundras are cyclical, burst-driven, and seasonal sprinters who sprint hard, then recover hard. This is a natural fit for the Launcher path, but since they work fast it’s possible for them to build quickly like an Arbiter, or rely on partnerships to help build during their recovery like a Collaborator.
Forests are relational, connective, and built for emotional resonance, which makes them ideal for the Evangelist SCALE path. However, it’s just as possible for them to broadcast their message like a Spotlighter, or launch their programs repeatedly like a Launcher.
As you can see, there’s a natural fit for most brands to align their SCALE path and Ecosystem together, but it’s possible to have success many different ways. However, we must know both your SCALE path and base Ecosystem if we want you to find success.
Ecosystems describe how you function under load, how you create when the inspiration’s dried up, and how you make business decisions when everything is on fire. They show you how to structure your work so it doesn’t drain you. They help you understand what kind of creative ecosystem keeps you alive, so your business doesn’t just grow, but actually lasts.
There are five ecosystem types:
Deserts: Fast. Tactical. Ruthlessly efficient.
Grasslands: Strategic. Sustainable. Built to last.
Tundras: Launch-driven. Cyclical. Explosive, then dormant.
Forests: Relational. Emotional. Driven by connection and belonging.
Aquatics: Expansive. Visionary. Building entire worlds.
Each one reflects a different internal rhythm, emotional cycle, and creative pattern. If you build your business in a way that fights your ecosystem, you’ll lose. You’ll burn out or quit, even if the money’s good, because your body and brain will eventually say no.
Most entrepreneurs chase strategy while ignoring the system that has to run that strategy. Then, they wonder why it never sticks, why they keep burning out, and why it always feels like they’re building someone else’s business.
Let’s find your ecosystem. Then use it to build a business that actually allows you to breathe.
The Grassland Ecosystem
Slow. Strategic. Built to Last.
Grasslands are thinkers, planners, builders. These entrepreneurs aren’t playing the short game, they’re building a legacy. They develop frameworks, write create content, and craft offers that solve real problems with clarity and depth. Their power comes from consistency, mastery, and a strong point of view.
If Deserts win by being fast and first, Grasslands win by becoming undeniable over time. They’re the ones who create definitive guides, flagship programs, and evergreen content stacks that keep delivering year after year.
A healthy Grassland can spend a decade circling the same core idea and still have fresh, useful things to say. Their joy isn’t in the pivot — it’s in the refinement.
Traits of a Grassland Entrepreneur
Evergreen-minded: Grasslands create assets that stay relevant for years.
Focused on mastery: They don’t jump from one trend to the next — they go deep and stay in their lane.
Consistency-driven: They build systems, habits, and infrastructure they can sustain.
Big-picture thinkers: There’s usually a larger mission or worldview driving the work.
Launch-resistant: They struggle with “good enough” and often delay shipping until everything is perfect.
You’ll find a lot of Grasslands in consulting, education, personal development, long-form writing, evergreen info products, and business architecture. If you’ve ever said, “I just want to teach this thing really well,” you might be a Grassland.
What Success Looks Like
At their best, Grasslands are slow-burning powerhouses. They stack wins, create high-value IP, build trust over time, and operate on systems that keep compounding.
Their launches aren’t dramatic and their wins don’t come with fireworks, but they’re reliable, profitable, and repeatable.
Grasslands build libraries of content. They repurpose intelligently. They lean into SEO, podcasts, long-tail YouTube, and newsletters that people actually read.
Best Platforms + Strategies for Grasslands
Grasslands thrive in environments that reward depth, consistency, and cumulative value:
Substack + Email Newsletters: Long-form essays, serialized insights, big-picture thinking.
Evergreen courses: Modular, well-structured, sold on automation.
SEO blogging: Grasslands dominate when given time to rank and build a library.
Podcasting / YouTube: When they own a lane, they stay top-of-mind for years.
Strategic partnerships: Especially with Launchers or Tundras who can create hype while the Grassland builds the offer.
Grasslands usually don’t thrive in high-speed launch cycles (Kickstarter, challenge-based promos, etc.) — unless they partner with someone who can run point on the urgency side.
Where Grasslands Struggle
Over-preparing: Grasslands have high standards. That’s the upside. The downside? They often delay launching because something “isn’t ready yet.” They’ll rewrite the same course five times. They’ll create three new content maps instead of publishing the first one.
Visibility: Most Grasslands are builders, not performers. They don’t want to dance on Reels or shout into the algorithm. Which means that unless they build smart SEO pipelines or partner with high-visibility ecosystems, their work can go unnoticed — even when it’s excellent.
Trying to sprint: Grasslands crash when forced into speed. If they try to run like Deserts by constantly launching, rapidly iterating, building fast, they hit burnout. Hard. They need room to build slow and deep. Without it, the whole system starts to crack.
Grasslands build quietly. They don’t shout. They don’t sprint. But when the system is in place? They’re near impossible to dislodge.
We see a lot of Grassland entrepreneurs who think they’re broken because they’re not hitting seven-figure launches, building emotional cult brands, or growing their TikTok by dancing in carousels.
You’re not broken. You’re a builder. A teacher. A systems thinker. You don’t need to explode. You just need to compound.
The Aquatic Ecosystem
Expansive. Immersive. System Thinkers.
Aquatics are not content creators as much as visionary system architects. They pull threads that nobody else would and weave them together into something new, showing you a whole new way to look at a world, a genre, a trend, or even your own life.
They build worlds that spans formats, channels, mediums, and vibes. Products become platforms. Brands become stories. Offers become living ecosystems. And their audience? It’s not just “customers.” It’s a fandom.
Aquatics are natural brand-builders. They think in systems, media, IP, and long-term resonance. If they had unlimited budget, you’d get a Netflix docuseries, a merch drop, a storytelling podcast, a community game, five spin-off products, and an annual summit, all orbiting the same universe.
This is what makes them great collaborators, but vision comes with a price. Aquatics can see everything, and sometimes, that’s the problem. Their creativity is sprawling. Their ideas breed ideas. Their mind is wide, deep, and full of movement, but without structure, they drown in it.
Still, when they get it right? Aquatics don’t just grow businesses. They create universes.
Traits of an Aquatic Entrepreneur
Brand-centric: Aquatics don’t run “offers.” They build universes. Everything connects.
Pulling threads: The defining characteristic of an Aquatic is their ability to pull threads from different modalities, trends, genres, and paradigms into something wholly original.
Systemic planners: They live for frameworks, maps, lore, timelines, interconnected experiences.
Collaboration-driven: They seek other creators, brands, and platforms to grow with.
Overwhelmed easily: Vision overload leads to execution bottlenecks.
If you’ve ever said, “This isn’t just a business — it’s a world people can live in,”
or, “I have ten projects and can’t pick which one to finish,” you’re probably an Aquatic.
What Success Looks Like
Aquatics win by building immersive systems that can’t be ignored. It’s hard to describe the things that Aquatics make because they pull so many threads together. They look like things you might recognize, but don’t function in any way you’ve seen before.
That’s why so many Aquatic superfans stay around forever. They’re hard to find, but there’s literally nowhere else on Earth to get something similar, so they are incredibly brand loyal.
When they’re aligned, Aquatics are unstoppable. They build rich, immersive brands that pull people toward them. Their community buys in, not just because of what they sell, but because of the world they’ve created around it.
They’re the ones running serialized launches, storytelling podcasts, merchandise drops, and premium fan clubs, often at the same time. Aquatics turn passive followers into active fans as they delight people with every release.
Best Platforms + Strategies for Aquatics
Kickstarter / Crowdfunding: Ideal for big, bold launches with layers, tiers, stretch goals, and experience-driven design.
Direct Sales (Shopify, Payhip, WooCommerce): So they can control the customer journey and bundle like a boss.
Substack / Patreon: For serialized storytelling, behind-the-scenes content, community engagement, and fan-tier subscriptions.
Email lists (segmented): Aquatics often have multiple product lines or entry points — segmented automations can meet people where they are.
World-building websites: Think interactive content hubs, branded lore, customer journeys, timelines, guides, and narrative onboarding.
Where Aquatics Struggle
Overextension: Aquatics chase every shiny idea. Every spark becomes a strategy. They start 15 projects, try 10 platforms, reinvent their funnel mid-launch, and wonder why nothing finishes.
Clarity: It’s really hard to describe what an Aquatic does, and nobody struggles with that more than the Aquatic themselves, which is why they need so many collaborators and partners to validate them in the market.
Perfectionism: Because their vision is so big and they care about every detail so much, they feel like nothing is ever “ready.” So they delay. Revise. Abandon. Relaunch. Spin. Drift.
The key for Aquatics is sequencing. You can do everything, but not all at once. Vision is your gift, but it’s also your kryptonite. If you don’t prioritize and ship, you’ll stall.
So make sure to prioritize one launch at a time and find partners that can help you fulfill your vision. Just make sure to collaborate with people who can execute.
Basically, stop building 20 doorways and finish one front porch.
You’re not too much or too scattered. You’re brilliant and you’ll get there, just not all at once. The world needs what you’re building, but you have to build it one brick at a time.
The Desert Ecosystem
Fast. Focused. Ruthlessly Efficient.
Deserts are survivors. Tactical, lean, highly adaptable. They thrive in resource-scarce environments by doing more with less. Their superpower is efficiency. Deserts look at a business opportunity and ask, “How can I make this profitable now?” They don’t need it to be sexy. They just need it to work.
In many ways, the Desert archetype became the default for solopreneurs and bootstrappers, especially during the rise of online courses, drop shipping, and low-cost digital offers. The entire creator economy tried to sell you the Desert dream: build a funnel, automate delivery, run ads, scale to six figures.
Some of the most profitable creators and founders we know are Deserts. They’ve got systems, their products are dialed and their backend is a cash machine.
But not everyone’s built to be a Desert. And if you’re not, and you try to force yourself into that model? You’re going to break.
This ecosystem isn’t about soul-driven missions or community building. It’s about execution. About velocity. About being faster, leaner, and more data-driven than the competition.
Deserts aren’t here to feel all the feelings. They’re here to build machines that print money. Full stop.
Traits of a Desert Entrepreneur
Speed-focused: Deserts move fast. They don’t need it perfect. They need it shipped.
Trend-aware: They spot market gaps, ride trends, and launch when the timing hits.
Tactically driven: Every piece, the offer, the funnel, the copy, the delivery, is part of a system.
Minimalist marketers: They don’t build “audiences.” They build acquisition engines.
Emotionally detached: If it doesn’t convert, they kill it. No drama.
What Success Looks Like
A healthy Desert has systems for everything: idea testing, product building, delivery, email, ads. They know their customer, their niche, their metrics. They track relentlessly and optimize fast.
Their marketing is lean. Think low-cost lead magnets, evergreen funnels, short campaigns, high-leverage touchpoints. They’re not here to build influence — they’re here to build income.
When it’s working, Deserts run efficient businesses with predictable cash flow. They may not have a massive following, but the people in their funnel convert. That’s the metric.
Where Deserts Struggle
Burnout: Deserts run hot. Fast production cycles, constant marketing, low-margin offers — it adds up. When you build everything for speed, you don’t leave room to breathe.
Commodification: Deserts can lose touch with their “why.” When everything is optimized for ROI, the work can feel hollow. And when the machine starts stalling, they’ve got nothing else to fall back on.
Lack of infrastructure: Most people fail at the Desert model because they try to scale like a pro without the backend. No processes. No team. No clarity. Just hustle and chaos.
Best Platforms + Strategies for Deserts
Meta/Google ads: Clean, optimized funnels that convert cold traffic.
ClickFunnels / Kajabi / HighLevel: End-to-end automation with minimal complexity.
Low-ticket offer stacks: Tripwires, micro-courses, fast upsells.
Email marketing with clean segmentation: No fluff, just logic.
Ghostwriting, client services, content creation: Done-for-you revenue.
The Desert model isn’t bad. It’s efficient. But it’s not for everyone. If you’re a Desert, lean into it. Build the machine, run the numbers, and make it sing.
If you’re not, stop pretending this is your path. There are other ecosystems that don’t require you to kill yourself for a 3% conversion rate.
The Tundra Ecosystem
Explosive. Cyclical. Launch-Oriented.
Tundras are the sprinters of the entrepreneur world. They’re not made for endless content calendars, evergreen funnels, or “show up every day” marketing advice. Their energy is cyclical — full-throttle in the sprint, followed by real, non-negotiable recovery.
If you’ve ever crushed a product launch, made $30K in a week, then ghosted your audience for three months because you had nothing left in the tank? You might be a Tundra.
If you only come alive when there’s pressure, a clock ticking, and something big on the line? Welcome to the permafrost.
Tundras don’t create for the algorithm. They create for impact.
Traits of a Tundra Entrepreneur
Launch-driven: They need fixed dates, real stakes, and an audience to perform for.
Hype-loving: They thrive on anticipation — teasers, countdowns, trailers, bonuses.
Focused creators: When they’re in the zone, they’re machines.
Recovery-based: After a launch, they go offline. Period.
Emotionally invested: Highs are sky-high. Lows hit deep.
You’ll often see Tundras in crowdfunding, cohort-based courses, live program launches, and high-stakes event-driven sales. They’re not emailing every week. But when they hit your inbox, it matters.
What Success Looks Like
A healthy Tundra is a launch machine.
They structure the year around big pushes. They map content, build funnels, and time their output around those moments. They excel at urgency, scarcity, and real-time momentum. Their audience may not be huge, but they’re engaged AF when it counts.
They don’t need to always be on. They just need to know when to be on. And when the campaign’s over? They go dark. They recharge. And they plan the next explosion.
Best Platforms + Strategies for Tundras
Tundras thrive on visibility spikes and clear deadlines. Their ideal ecosystem includes:
Kickstarter & Crowdfunding: Built-in urgency, community energy, and public accountability.
Time-limited launches: Think Black Friday sales, bundle drops, or pre-order bonuses.
Live coaching or events: Short-term, high-impact delivery.
Burst email campaigns: Not drip sequences. High-intensity, high-frequency pushes when it matters.
Seasonal program calendars: 3–4 major launches per year with downtime baked in.
Tundras don’t need to be “always on”, but they need to be strategic about when to turn it on.
Where Tundras Struggle
Consistency: If there’s no external pressure, Tundras flounder. They lose momentum, overthink, or jump to something shiny just to feel progress again.
Burnout: Their sprints are intense. If they don’t build in real recovery, the crash is brutal. And if they try to run back-to-back launches like a Desert, they implode.
The Launch Spiral: After a big win, they feel obligated to do it again — immediately. Even if they’re wiped. Even if the last one nearly killed them. They start hyping the next thing before they’ve healed from the last one.
Identity crash: If a launch underperforms, they take it personally. Their worth gets tied to outcomes, and that creates creative paralysis.
Tundras are volcanic. Cold most of the time, then they erupt. If that’s you, own it. Stop forcing consistency. Plan your year around bursts, make the launch season sacred, and protect the rest season like it’s oxygen.
You’re not lazy. You’re just hibernating until it’s time to blow the roof off again. The world doesn’t need you to show up every Tuesday. It needs you to show up when it counts.
The Forest Ecosystem
Rooted. Resonant. Community-Centered.
Forest entrepreneurs don’t care much about conversions as long as their seen. They want their work to make people feel seen. They want to create something that feels like home to the people who find them.
Forests build businesses on emotional resonance and trust. Their marketing isn’t about hacking attention or optimizing a sales page. It’s about honesty, identity, and vulnerability. When they’re healthy, they build community that endures. One that buys, supports, shares, and sticks around because of how the work feels, not because they got hit with a tripwire funnel.
Forests don’t need a massive audience. They just need the right one.
Traits of a Forest Entrepreneur
Brand-first thinkers: Their identity is the brand. Their voice, story, and aesthetic are all aligned.
Emotionally tuned in: They sell through meaning. Depth > scale.
Community-driven: Forests want conversation, not broadcast.
Shared language creators: They give their people the words to understand themselves.
Sensitive to silence: Forests take feedback — or the lack of it — personally. And yeah, it stings.
If you’ve ever said, “I just want to help people feel understood,” or “I want to create something that matters,” you’re probably a Forest.
What Success Looks Like
When Forests are thriving, their business feels alive. Their clients don’t just buy, they adore and proselytize the brand. Their emails feel like letters, their content resonates, and their work builds loyalty that lasts.
A Forest might only launch one offer a year. Or two. But they’ll sell out — because their people care about what they’re doing. They’re also more likely than anyone else to get fan DMs, heartfelt testimonials, or random “I found your work and cried” emails from strangers.
Best Platforms + Strategies for Forests
Patreon or Ream: Recurring support in exchange for behind-the-scenes access, early looks, or bonus content.
Email newsletters with voice: Not drip campaigns. Actual writing. Actual you.
Substack: Especially when paired with personal essays, serialized stories, or vulnerable insights.
Live events & intimate groups: Whether it’s a booth, a Zoom room, or a Slack channel — they thrive in real-time.
Socials with engagement: Instagram Stories, TikTok behind-the-scenes, YouTube diaries — anything where the audience can connect to the person, not just the product.
Where Forests Struggle
Emotional exhaustion at scale: Forests feel their business. Every win, every silence, every unsubscribe, it’s all personal. When something underperforms, it doesn’t feel like an offer failed. It feels like they failed. They carry everything emotionally. That depth is their superpower, but it’s also what burns them out.
Boundary collapse: Forests want to help everyone. They hate charging. They say yes too much. They don’t want to offend or disappoint anyone, so they over-give, under-price, and avoid conflict. Or worse, they force the conversation and feel fake doing it. If they don’t learn to protect their energy and filter feedback with intention, they eventually go numb. They shut down. The light dims.
Visibility avoidance: Because their business feels so personal, Forests are hyper-sensitive to being ignored or misunderstood. So they procrastinate. They tell themselves they’re “not ready” when really they’re just afraid of being hurt. And that’s how their best work never gets seen.
Forests don’t need to go viral but they do need to be consistent. Show up, be real, and let the right people in.
You don’t need to shout or convince, and you don’t need to run 37 scarcity-based timers. You need to connect, and protect your peace while doing it. Set boundaries, say no, charge what it’s worth, and step back when you need space.
Silence doesn’t mean rejection. It’s just the internet being the internet. Lean into that.
So, did you find a perfect fit above? If you don’t, that’s okay. Many people see themselves in multiple ecosystems, and we have a modality for blended ecosystems.
In fact, if you want to dive deeper, there are a half dozen articles about how to use these Ecosystems in multiple disciplines, including how to find your transformation, how to use it to identify trends, how to define your go-to-market strategy, and more.
Since these articles deal more with how to set your business up for success, they fall more into the Ecosystems model instead of the SCALE paths model.
So What Do You Do With All This?
The Ecosystems are your operating system. They are about how you work, how you create, how you move., and how you create a healthy environment for your business. They’re about how you show up internally.
The SCALE paths are your growth strategy. They help you scale, earn, and expand. They’re how you build traction externally.
You need both, and they will probably mirror each other. If you’re a Desert, you’ll probably resonate with the Arbiter path because your natural tendencies graviate toward it, but you could use a different SCALE path if you see value there, even if it’s for a season.
If you lined them up, then:
Grassland=Spotlighter
Aquatic= Collaborator.
Desert=Arbiter
Tundra=Launcher
Forest=Evangelist
That said your ecosystem ≠ your path.
You can be a Forest Ecosystem and use an Arbiter SCALE path.
You can be a Desert and scale as a Collaborator.
You can be a Tundra and thrive as a Spotlighter.
You probably should align them, but they are not the same. Your ecosystem is how you’re wired and your path is how you win. Trying to force yourself into the wrong growth path just because it “matches” your ecosystem will break you just as fast as trying to work against your natural rhythm.
So instead, match your ecosystem to how you create, how you show up, and how you refill your tank. Then, choose a path that aligns with your goals, strengths, audience, and timing.
Want to build slowly and deeply? That’s a Spotlighter move.
Want to dominate through recurring campaigns? Launcher.
Want to lead a movement? Evangelist.
Want to own the arbitrage? Embrace the Arbiter.
Want to scale through partnership and reach? Collaborator.
Stop trying to bolt someone else’s system onto your business. Build one that’s rooted in who you actually are and where you actually want to go.
Then go there…deliberately, sustainably, and successfully.
Okay low-key feeling called out as I read about aquatic