To create value, startups have to improve the lives of users in meaningful ways. We call that piece "innovation". This is hard because the obviously great ways to do this are taken and already being done by some other business.

There has been plenty written about the odyssey to get to product-market fit and I have little insight to add to those notes. Innovation matters, and product-market fit matters for startup. What matters far more than product or innovation are distribution moats.

Without a distribution moat – or a clear path to one – you're cooked. Especially if you're a founder who has raised venture capital. Founders without distribution moats don't get meaningful exits very often.

It's not a stretch to say that businesses don't buy other businesses, they buy other moats.

More to come...