Dominant companies can reduce competition, leave many behind: Explained

'A world without regulation means you're either at the table or on the menu,' said Roni Michaely, a University of Geneva professor

Diapers.com, the online delivery service, made one critical error. It rocketed to success in a field dominated by Amazon.com Inc.

Sales by the parent company, created in 2005 by Marc Lore and Vinit Bharara, grew to $300 million by 2010, prompting an unwinnable war of price attrition with Amazon and the inevitable buyout offer the founders couldn’t refuse. Lore and Bharara became wealthy, but by 2017 the business was quietly closed and its 260 workers fired. Any competition the company may have provided Amazon was gone for good.

The triumph of Diapers.com might have become a business-school case study. Instead, its demise