CONCEPT
The Bowling Alley
Moore's metaphor for the sequential vertical-market strategy that follows a successful chasm crossing — each segment's success knocking down the next pin rather than scaling broadly at once.
The bowling alley, developed in Inside the Tornado (1995), is the phase of Moore's lifecycle that follows the chasm crossing but precedes mass-market adoption. The metaphor is precise: a technology crosses in its first beachhead segment, and if the angle is right, the resulting reference customers create conditions for adoption in the adjacent segment. Each pin knocks down the next. The strategic logic of the bowling alley is opposite to the tornado's: depth beats breadth, one segment served completely outperforms many segments served adequately, and the sequence matters as much as the speed. In the AI adoption landscape, developer tools and consumer chat have fallen. Enterprise knowledge work is wobbling. Healthcare, education, and the public sector remain standing because their whole product requirements are most demanding.
In The You On AI Field Guide
The bowling alley phase is the most underappreciated in Moore's framework because it is the least dramatic. It lacks the existential stakes of the chasm and the explosive growth of