Critical Mass

Heard this word in a business sense for the first time so I decided to look into it a little more.

"Critical mass is the minimum amount (of something) required to start or maintain a venture;
"the battle for the computer market has now reached critical mass";
"there is now a critical mass of successful women to take the lead";
"they sold the business because it lacked critical mass" ;
Factors involved in critical-mass considerations for technological management include the number of research programs and number of graduate students;

Therefore it is the scale or volume at which processes become self-perpetuating. The minimum size of a firm thought necessary to compete effectively.