In the early days, the only moat that startups have is speed. Once you make something people want, the question becomes what deeper moats can you build on to defend against the competition. On the Lightcone, Garry Tan, Harj Taggar, Diana Hu, and Jared Friedman dive into Hamilton Helmer’s Seven Powers framework to find out how these moats show up in practice today in AI startups. https://lnkd.in/gy4WKKS4
Speed is the entry ticket, but moats are what keep you in the game.
Speed is a great start, but the real game‑changer is building those Seven Powers.
Speed gets you there but real moats keep competitors out
Speeds and Continuously
#fact speed wins. as companies grow, they slow down. startups bring urgency and precision to solving problems for customers. this is a moat in itself.
This is so good. We definitely need to talk about moats! We’re a FinTech startup, but our defense isn't tech, it's human. I’m passionate about building this because I’m building it for myself and millions of others who need a solution. I started my journey in May and have already invested 600+ hours of R&D. That speed and conviction have resulted in a powerful counter-positioning moat: we profit from user stability, not user chaos (like shame and fees). That structural difference is what prevents conventional FinTech from competing. Authenticity always wins!
This is pretty epic.
Speed is the first real advantage for early-stage founders but it rarely lasts. Building a defensible moat around distribution, data, or network effects is what separates enduring AI startups from fast imitators.