Startup Moats
December 8, 2025
Watch now | Today, we’re talking about a startup’s “moat” or competitive advantage. An investor usually has to believe that your competitive advantage is different enough for customers to care and is defensible.
Today, we’re talking about founder tactics that may work but your advisors have to push back on them.
Fundraising for a large check with minimal traction. Most founders will not be able to pull this off, and will waste a lot of time. You might be the 1 in 1000 but nobody should really recommend that path for you.
Same with pursuing partnerships for distribution. They rarely work out but I have a number of portfolios who grow using this tactic.
One of the hardest is the high salary employee dilemma — you probably shouldn’t pay someone $200k/year if you’re a small startup but I have seen a few companies make it work.
Your advisors aren’t living it and their advice, including mine, isn’t worth more than your instinct.