Startups aren’t struggling to build products anymore. That part’s gotten easy. What’s hard now? Staying relevant long enough to matter.
Thanks to tools like Bolt.new and Lovable, launching a new product is practically plug-and-play. You’ve got open-source AI, drag-and-drop platforms, and no-code frameworks tearing down entry barriers. But that low lift also means anyone with a browser and a bright idea can spin up something similar tomorrow—and probably will.
Building a Product Is Easy. Defending It? Not So Much.
Check Warner, co-founder of Diversity VC, puts it bluntly: your startup isn’t safe just because it launched first.
The cost of cloning a product has nosedived. Pretty design and a clever hook won’t cut it anymore. Someone with more cash or a bigger audience can easily replicate your idea and beat you to market saturation.
That’s why founders can’t just chase what makes them cool right now. They need to think ahead—way ahead. What’s going to protect that “cool” from getting swallowed whole?
Moats Aren’t Just a Metaphor. They’re Your Survival Strategy.
Forget dragons and knights. The moat metaphor still works.
Moats are what stop others from eating your lunch—simple as that. They’re your startup’s defenses. Not just to survive, but to grow without getting outflanked every quarter.
But not all moats are built the same:
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Data Moats: Own unique datasets no one else can easily replicate.
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Community Moats: Build a user base that actually cares, not just clicks.
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Integration Moats: Become so tied into workflows that ripping you out is a pain.
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Brand Moats: Create something people emotionally attach to.
You don’t need all of them. But you definitely need one. Preferably more than one if you’re trying to outlive your Series A.
Timing Is Everything—and Founders Are Waiting Too Long
Founders often scramble to raise capital or hit vanity metrics, pushing moat-building down the road.
By the time you need a moat, it’s usually too late. Your rivals already caught up. Or worse—passed you. The defensive thinking has to start earlier. As in: pre-launch, wireframe-stage earlier.
One-liner to sit with: defensibility is a strategy, not an afterthought.
VC Dollars Are Now Asking the Harder Questions
This shift isn’t just philosophical. Investors are waking up too.
Ada Ventures, where Warner is a partner, has seen this firsthand. They’re not just looking at user growth—they want to know what stops that growth from vanishing next quarter. They’re asking founders things like: What can’t be copied here? What makes this sticky? Where’s the lock-in?
And it’s not just Warner’s shop. According to PitchBook data from Q1 2025, over 60% of early-stage VC term sheets now include due diligence around defensibility metrics. Five years ago, that number hovered closer to 20%.
That’s a big shift.
The New Moat Toolkit: Start With What You Already Control
The good news? You don’t need to reinvent the wheel. Most moats start from stuff you’ve already got.
You can’t rush trust or network effects. But you can plant the seeds before you even push to GitHub.
Startups That Wait? They Rarely Win
Startups that lean into moats early—even while still testing product-market fit—tend to outlast louder, flashier competitors. Think Figma. Think Notion. Think Substack. None were the first in their category. All stayed in the game by building strong moats.
And sure, sometimes they were boring. But they were also sticky. Hard to replace. The opposite of hype-driven flash-in-the-pan clones.
One-sentence paragraph just to say this: boring wins when it’s built right.
A Founder’s Job Isn’t Just to Build. It’s to Fortify.
The pace of cloning, competition, and collapse is only getting faster. Ideas are cheap. Execution’s cheaper.
So if you’re a founder with something new, don’t just rush to launch. Ask yourself: What keeps me irreplaceable?
Because building a great product today is easy. Building one that lasts? That’s a whole different story.
