The seven sources of durable competitive advantage — the reasons a great business stays great. Each one explained with how it works, where you see it, how to build it, and how it fails.
When bigger means cheaper per unit, the largest player can price below everyone and stay profitable.
When each new user makes the product more valuable to every other user, the biggest network wins by default.
When leaving costs the customer money, time, or risk, they stay — even for a better alternative.
When a name itself makes people pay more or feel more certain, the brand is the moat.
When you alone control something valuable — a patent, a talent, a deposit, a deal — rivals simply can't have it.
When your way of working is better and can't be copied quickly, the process itself is the moat.
When a newcomer adopts a model the incumbent can't copy without damaging its own business, the incumbent is trapped.