Stage of Industry as a Barrier to Entry
Any industry often starts at a very basic level. Over time, as lots of people get into the industry, they learn new skills and find out how to do things better. The industry scales and the businesses invest more and more capital to acquire sophisticated equipment, etc. However, it is not possible for a new person (or even a country) to directly enter at this sophisticated stage. In the early stages, you could start with small amount of money and learn your way up. But once the entire industry becomes sophisticated, a new entrant directly has to start with high capital and knowhow. This becomes a major barrier.
This can even happen at national scale. Consider the semiconductors fabrication business. TSMC started at a time where it was still possible to setup a fab and hope to be competitive. Over time, it got much better while others were not able to keep up (partly because of the scale TSMC got to). It got to a point where even Intel has thrown in the towel and is willing to outsource to TSMC. But at this stage, almost no other country can hope to build their own TSMC. China has been trying for a long time and has sunk a large amount of money into it - with no success. Even America is struggling.
You either enter the race early, or you forget about it altogether.
An incredible connection is to an even bigger idea. In The Lessons of History, Will Durant says: Every advance in the complexity of the economy puts an added premium upon superior ability, and intensifies the concentration of wealth, responsibility, and political power. This links up so powerfully with the idea. Not only industries but the whole economy is becoming that way. As it gets more complex, few people are in a position to play any meaningful role. The starting off skill-set (and even resources) you need to participate in the big leagues gets higher and higher. Disparity increases.
Related books:
1. Cod: A Biography of the Fish that Changed the World - Mark Kurlansky
2. The Lessons of History: Will Durant, Ariel Durant