We recently had the opportunity to speak with Ori Brafman author of The Starfish and the Spider and lecturer at UC Berkeley's business school.  The book has been a big influence on the new wave of blockchain businesses inspired by the unique differentiators a decentralized organizational structure can offer. The name of the Starfish Mission, where we recorded our conversation is even inspired by his book, which is a collaborative workspace for SF based companies in the blockchain space.

When Ori wrote The Starfish and The Spider in 2006, he wrote it as a metaphor for business decentralization, meaning an organization without a top-down structure. If you liken a traditional corporate structure to a spider, if the head is chopped off - the organization like a spider will die. A starfish, however (or decentralized organization) does not die if one of its arms is chopped off, as it has no head and can regenerate, its arm will simply grow back.