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Eric Siu explains why a moat isn't a fixed asset but a verb. Speed and continuous execution are what actually protect your business. Netflix shows how constant iteration, not just technology, creates the real competitive advantage.
Eric Siu explains why a moat isn't a fixed asset but a verb. Speed and continuous execution are what actually protect your business. Netflix shows how constant iteration, not just technology, creates the real competitive advantage.
Mote, mote, mote, brands or moats. Most startups think a moat is something you build once, and that is completely wrong. If you create a moat, you're not protected forever because competitors copy you, markets shift, technology shifts, and what felt unique last year becomes normal fast. Take Netflix. They started with DVD rentals, then streaming, then original content. Had they stopped streaming, Disney Plus and HBO would have wiped them out. Their moat wasn't DVDs or streaming, but their ability to keep moving before the market caught up. So what should your moat actually be in today's day and age? Speed is actually the best moat you can have. Continuously generating new insights and executing on them faster than everyone else naturally means that the results that you're going to get, the insights that you're going to get, are going to come before everyone else gets them. And this is the reason why most companies fall behind, because the moment you stop moving, that's the moment that you start falling behind. So Y Combinator's president Gary Tan has said that a moat is not a noun, it's actually a verb. Moat is— we think of it as a noun, but it's actually a verb. Follow for more lessons on building businesses that stay ahead of the market shifts.
