Stay-Ups Don’t Stay Up by Accident

The third strata matters more than we often admit

In recent weeks, we have written about the three strata of Australian innovation and the importance of the missing middle. This week, we focus on the third strata: the stay-ups. These are the larger, more established organisations and institutions—corporates, government agencies, universities, research institutes, and other enduring players that bring scale, infrastructure, market reach, purchasing power, and system influence.

Stay-ups matter because they are often the organisations through which innovation spreads, sticks, and scales. They are not simply background institutions in the ecosystem. They are often the channels through which ideas are adopted, operationalised, funded, procured, regulated, standardised, and diffused into the wider economy and society.

But stay-ups do not stay up by default.

Established position is not the same as ongoing relevance. Size is not the same as adaptability. Legacy is not the same as renewal.

If stay-ups do not continue to innovate, they do not really stay up at all.