---
id: "quote-guiding-principle-synergies"
type: "quote"
source_timestamps: ["¶6"]
tags: ["core-thesis"]
related: ["concept-ecosystem-synergies"]
speaker: "Natalie Burford, Andrew Shipilov and Nathan Furr"
speakers: ["Natalie Burford", "Andrew Shipilov", "Nathan Furr"]
source_url: "https://hbr.org/2026/06/when-evaluating-an-ma-opportunity-consider-the-broader-digital-ecosystem"
source_title: "When Evaluating an M&A Opportunity, Consider the Broader Digital Ecosystem"
sources: ["ecosystem"]
sourceVaultSlug: "hbr-seg-ecosystem"
originDay: 11
articleStem: "hbr-cl-80-ma-digital-ecosystem"
sourceUrl: "https://hbr.org/2026/06/when-evaluating-an-ma-opportunity-consider-the-broader-digital-ecosystem"
sourceTitle: "When Evaluating an M&A Opportunity, Consider the Broader Digital Ecosystem"
---
# The Guiding Principle of Ecosystem Synergies

> "The guiding principle is that smart leaders acquire targets to achieve ecosystem synergies—that is, value created through a novel combination of the acquirer's and target's ecosystem positions that improves the merged firm's cooperation with third-party complementors."
>
> — Natalie Burford, Andrew Shipilov and Nathan Furr (¶6)

The authors' verbatim definition of the core mechanism of their framework, published in the [[entity-strategic-management-journal]]. This is the canonical statement of [[concept-ecosystem-synergies]].