• 0

Marketoonist | Tom Fishburne

Marketoonist is the thought bubble of Tom Fishburne. Marketing cartoons, content marketing with a sense of humor, keynote speaking.

  • Campaigns
  • Speaking
  • About
  • Cartoons
  • Contact
  • Book
  • 0

Building a Moat

June 12, 2022

building a moat cartoon
  • Paid licensing options include high resolution download.
  • Presentation $35.00 Add to Cart
  • Newsletter or Website $100.00 Add to Cart
  • Corporate Blog/Sponsored Post $50.00 Add to Cart
  • Looking for other licensing options? click here
  • View Cart
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)

An entrepreneur friend of mine shared that one of the most invariable (and overused) questions he gets asked is what the “moats” are for his start-up.  He described the question as a crutch that VCs go to when they don’t know what other questions to ask.  

As my friend put it:

“More troubling is that they are looking for a silver bullet and training a generation of entrepreneurs to over optimize for a “silver bullet” vs. helping them build strong cultures.  There is only one sustainable moat in my mind and that is culture.  Anything else can be bought or worked around (including patents).”

I found his standard approach the moat question very insightful:

“I respond with there are hard moats and soft moats and the latter are more important.  What I mean by soft moats are the 1,000 little things we do that make us better than our competition (whom we have consistently been beating despite charging 3-10X the price).  In the vein of culture eats strategy for breakfast, I’ve been telling people it’s easier to dodge one giant arrow than a thousand little ones.”

The moat principal was famously popularized by Warren Buffet in a 1995 Berkshire Hathaway shareholder meeting and expanded upon in the years since.  As Warren put it:

“What we’re trying to find is a business that, for one reason or another — it can be because it’s the low-cost producer in some area, it can be because it has a natural franchise because of surface capabilities, it could be because of its position in the consumers’ mind, it can be because of a technological advantage, or any kind of reason at all, that it has this moat around it…

“But we are trying to figure out what is keeping — why is that castle still standing? And what’s going to keep it standing or cause it not to be standing five, 10, 20 years from now. What are the key factors? And how permanent are they?”

More recently, Elon Musk critiqued the idea of relying on moats to compete.   As Elon put it:

“I think moats are lame…If your only defense against invading armies is a moat, you will not last long. What matters is the pace of innovation–that is the fundamental determinant of competitiveness.”

Here are a few related cartoons I’ve drawn over the years:

our startup idea - October 2014

  • Paid licensing options include high resolution download.
  • Presentation $35.00 Add to Cart
  • Newsletter or Website $100.00 Add to Cart
  • Corporate Blog/Sponsored Post $50.00 Add to Cart
  • Looking for other licensing options? click here
  • View Cart
Share
  • Share this Marketoon
    • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
    • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
    • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
| Read Post

disruptive innovation - March 2016

  • Paid licensing options include high resolution download.
  • Presentation $35.00 Add to Cart
  • Newsletter or Website $100.00 Add to Cart
  • Corporate Blog/Sponsored Post $50.00 Add to Cart
  • Looking for other licensing options? click here
  • View Cart
Share
  • Share this Marketoon
    • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
    • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
    • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
| Read Post

product/market fit - April 2022

Product/Market Fit cartoon
  • Paid licensing options include high resolution download.
  • Presentation $35.00 Add to Cart
  • Newsletter or Website $100.00 Add to Cart
  • Corporate Blog/Sponsored Post $50.00 Add to Cart
  • Looking for other licensing options? click here
  • View Cart
Share
  • Share this Marketoon
    • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
    • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
    • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
| Read Post
Your Ad Ignored Here
"If marketing kept a diary, this would be it."
- Ann Handley, Chief Content Officer of MarketingProfs
Order Now

Filed Under: entrepreneurialism, innovation

Get a new marketoon each week:

Previous Post Next Post

The Innovation Funnel

Innovation Funnel cartoon

Talk to the QR Code

Talk to the QR Code cartoon

Browse similar cartoons in: entrepreneurialism, innovation

Browse By Category See All Marketoons
  • Paid licensing options include high resolution download.
  • Presentation $35.00 Add to Cart
  • Newsletter or Website $100.00 Add to Cart
  • Corporate Blog/Sponsored Post $50.00 Add to Cart
  • Looking for other licensing options? click here
  • View Cart
Your Ad Ignored Here Book Image

15 years of Marketoonist compiled for your marketing pleasure.

Order Now

About Marketoonist

tom_image

Marketoonist is the thought bubble of Tom Fishburne a career marketer and cartoonist. Learn More...

Subscribe

Get a new marketoon delivered to your inbox each week.

 

Browse Blog Posts

Most Popular Cartoons Browse Categories

Marketoon Campaigns

contentmarketing

Content marketing with a sense of humor.

Learn More

Keynote Speaking

speakingworkshops

Insightful, funny, and visual keynote talks and workshops.

Book Tom to Speak

Search Blog Posts

Interested? Let’s Talk!

Marketoons

Browse Categories

Get New Cartoons Weekly

About Marketoonist

Tom Fishburne is the Founder and CEO of Marketoonist, a content marketing studio that helps businesses reach their audiences with cartoons.

© 2023 Marketoonist