the.com/competitive advantage
the reason customers pick you when they didn't have to.
means a durable edge over rivals — lower cost, better product, or something else they can't cheaply copy — that lets you win and keep winning.
from popularized by economist Michael Porter in the 1980s, who split it into cost leadership and differentiation, arguing firms win by being cheaper or being different, never by trying to be both badly.
porter's warningstuck in the middle strategies usually just lose
moat metaphorbuffett popularized calling this an economic moat
expiration datemost advantages erode within a decade, not forever
copyable vs notculture and network effects resist imitation best