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0 pointspowowow6y ago0 comments

hard to develop technology is a very narrow moat.

You have the first problem that well-funded competitors can almost certainly replicate whatever you built if they care to do so.

You then have a second problem that well-funded competitors can almost certainly market inferior tech as being equal to or superior to yours, if they care to do so.

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streetcat16y ago

Hard to develop tech is a huge moat. The issue here is timing. Hard tech buys you time. Most of the M&A today is not done due to hard to replicate, but due to time. Even if I can replicate the tech, I do not have time to do that.

powowowOP6y ago

Can you name, say, three notable software businesses whose advantage was hard-to-replicate tech?

eloff6y ago

Google (search), Microsoft (OS, especially early on), Dreamworks (rendering, animation), Oracle (database, early on before OSS database got good).

It's the exception, not the rule though.

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streetcat16y ago

Yes. Any tech acquisition over 1B is never done for customers. For example deep mind from google.

Just this week Intel bought Havana labs for 2B due to their AI chip hardware.

Also, look at what AMD is doing to Intel. This is pure tech play (and pure moat).

The underlying rule in play, is that the tech business is bound to "leapfrogging", I.e. a better technology can destroy companies almost overnight (see the case of Nokia). So hard tech is more important than customers.

Look what Tesla is doing to GM, etc.

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phonon6y ago

Ksplice, kdb+, Google search, Mathematica

pbreit6y ago

Never, ever, ever, ever worry about anyone copying your stuff. Depend on your unique insight. No one can copy that. If in the extremely rare circumstance that someone copies you, be thrilled! That means you are building something valuable (which is extremely rare).

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0 pointspowowow6y ago0 comments

hard to develop technology is a very narrow moat.

You have the first problem that well-funded competitors can almost certainly replicate whatever you built if they care to do so.

You then have a second problem that well-funded competitors can almost certainly market inferior tech as being equal to or superior to yours, if they care to do so.

0 comments

streetcat16y ago

powowowOP6y ago

Can you name, say, three notable software businesses whose advantage was hard-to-replicate tech?

eloff6y ago

Google (search), Microsoft (OS, especially early on), Dreamworks (rendering, animation), Oracle (database, early on before OSS database got good).

It's the exception, not the rule though.

1 more reply

streetcat16y ago

Yes. Any tech acquisition over 1B is never done for customers. For example deep mind from google.

Just this week Intel bought Havana labs for 2B due to their AI chip hardware.

Also, look at what AMD is doing to Intel. This is pure tech play (and pure moat).

Look what Tesla is doing to GM, etc.

1 more reply

phonon6y ago

Ksplice, kdb+, Google search, Mathematica

pbreit6y ago

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse