System-scale transformation requiring coordinated change across chain-linked complementary pieces is systematically underfunded by current capital structures, but missionary founders can break through — and AI is compressing the timeline

Rumelt (Good Strategy/Bad Strategy) identifies chain-linked systems as structures where improvement requires coordinated change across multiple complementary pieces — no single piece can be improved in isolation because the weakest link determines system performance. Traditional capital structures allocate to individual companies solving individual problems, but civilizational challenges like energy transition, healthcare delivery, or financial inclusion are chain-linked: they require simultaneous advances in technology, regulation, infrastructure, and adoption. Each piece is individually uninvestable because its return depends on the other pieces arriving. This is the systematic underfunding mechanism — not a lack of capital but a structural inability of atomized allocation to coordinate across chain links. Missionary founders — those who build from conviction rather than market signal — can break through because they internalize the coordination problem, building multiple links simultaneously or sequencing them strategically. AI compresses the timeline by reducing the cost of the generative work (research, analysis, thesis formation) that precedes capital deployment, allowing missionary capital to identify and act on chain-linked opportunities faster than the coordination gap can widen.